|
COLUMN |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Joseph Brennan |
|
Qualification period for emergency unemployment assistance extended
Though signs point to an economic recovery on the horizon, Pennsylvania's unemployment rate still hovers just below the national average of 10 percent, at 8.5 percent, and the Lehigh Valley suffers slightly higher, at 9 percent unemployment.
Last year, federal legislation allowed for several extensions in emergency unemployment assistance, and just recently, President Obama signed a bill that extends federal emergency unemployment benefits and health-care premium reductions under COBRA for two additional months.
This extension will allow many families to maintain their unemployment benefits and health coverage during the cold winter months and provides access to the means necessary to pay their bills, put food on the table and get themselves and their children to the doctor.
The federal legislation, signed by Obama in December, extends the qualification period for emergency unemployment benefits to Feb. 28, 2010. That extension includes the $25 weekly Federal Additional Compensation payment and also allows eligible Pennsylvanians to receive the premium reduction for COBRA health-care benefits through Feb. 28. Pennsylvanians can now receive the COBRA premium subsidy for a maximum of 15 months.
If you think you qualify for the extension, you should simply continue to file your biweekly claims. The Department of Labor and Industry will contact you if they need additional information.
Unemployed Pennsylvanians are eligible for an initial 26 weeks of regular state benefits. People who exhaust those benefits by Feb. 20, 2010, may qualify for up to 53 weeks of federal emergency unemployment benefits, and then an additional 20 weeks of state extended benefits. This means that out-of-work Pennsylvanians may be able to access a total of 99 weeks of unemployment benefits while they look for work.
More details about the emergency unemployment extension, the COBRA premiums subsidy and unemployment benefits in general is available on the Department of Labor and Industry Web site at www.dli.state.pa.us, or by visiting the Unemployment Compensation link in the "Here to Serve You" section of my legislative Web page at www.pahouse.com/Brennan.
###