stimulus impact

For anyone wondering when the recently passed stimulus package (ARRA) will take effect, let me announce that we were recently stimulated in the form of an offset and subsidy to our COBRA payments.

We've been on COBRA since November when I was laid off. Paying >$800 a month for a crappy health plan. ARRA provides a tax refund for what we've already paid and starting next month will cut our payment by 65% through a subsidy. This represents a huge cut to our projected monthly spend for the walk.

Now, in our case the subsidy will not be stimulative since we are unlikely to spend the surplus. Half the point of the walk is to drastically reduce expenses afterall. However, for the vast majority of people who are eligible, the subsidy will mean the difference between keeping or losing health coverage which is indirectly stimulative in itself. More importantly, most COBRA recipients are by definition recently laid off and will therefore be spending their subsidies on living expenses, etc. while they look for work.

So, let me say thank you to Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration. And a bigger thank you to the kind hearted generosity of all you taxpayers out there. Cheers.