Resources for Laid Off and Furloughed Employees
Dear WANADA Members,
Should circumstances require you to furlough or lay off employees during this crisis, we wanted to make sure you are able to communicate to your workers the menu of resources available to them during this extremely difficult time.
Laid off or furloughed employees should apply for health insurance coverage through the exchange in their state of residence, and they should apply for unemployment benefits in the state in which they were last employed.
Please note that furloughed employees can remain on your health insurance plan, and not just through COBRA, if you elect to continue paying the employer portion of the premiums during the furlough period.
The
SBA's Paycheck Protection Program will provide qualifying small businesses with forgivable loans to cover costs like these during the coming months
.
Health Care Coverage Through State Exchanges and Medicaid
Kaiser Permanente has provided us with a list of resources for employees whose health coverage status has been affected recently.
As far as specific states go, the Maryland Health Connection has created a special open enrollment period for all residents in the state; anyone who applies for and accepts coverage through the state exchange by April 15 can be retroactively covered as of April 1. The special enrollment period is currently set to expire on June 15.
In all states, however, a loss of employer-provided coverage is a qualifying life event that allows them to apply for coverage through their state's health exchange. D.C. residents who qualify under this criteria can apply through
DC Health Link, while Delaware residents may apply through
ChooseHealth Delaware.
As we mentioned above, furloughed employees can remain on your health insurance plan, and not just through COBRA, if you elect to continue paying the employer portion of the premiums during the furlough period.
If you are a qualifying small business, please note again that the
SBA's Paycheck Protection Program
will provide qualifying small businesses with forgivable loans to cover costs like these during the coming months.
Maryland-based employers should also familiarize themselves with the resources created as part of the state's
COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund that may make it easier to continue coverage during a furlough period.
Unemployment Benefit Information
The
CARES Act, the large federal economic rescue bill signed into law last week, expanded eligibility standards for unemployment insurance, while adding $600 per week for 13 weeks on top of the standard payout determined by the state in which the applicant was last employed.
While the CARES Act expands the payouts for unemployment claimants, the application and approval process is still handled through the state in which the claimant resides.
Below are links to the state unemployment benefit resources in our region:
Each state has also provided detailed guidance on how to apply to unemployment insurance in their states, under the terms of the CARES Act. Please see below for links to these PDFs:
Summary
Please contact Ed Mullaney (
[email protected]
) or Connie Ryan (
[email protected]
) if you have any questions about your WANADA-provided insurance or benefits programs, or are seeking guidance on how to most effectively communicate the health insurance information listed above.
If you have any questions about the SBA loans or the other economic hardship loans and grants offered at the state and local level, please contact me or Joe Koch ([email protected]) at any time.
