The workers who were laid-off between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009, were getting COBRA subsidy which pays 65 percent of their job-based health insurance premiums for nine months.

This subsidy is now expiring for thousands of unemployed Americans who began receiving this subsidy in March, when it was first started as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Congress has to act very quickly upon this situation otherwise there will be millions of Americans who are jobless and are going to experience the same shock when they exhaust their subsidies and must pay full health insurance premiums, instead of just about 35 percent.

The cost of coverage is expected to become three times which will force the unemployed workers to scramble for cheaper private coverage and stay uninsured or consume it all and pay higher rates.

The subsidy allows job-based coverage to average $398 per month for families and $144 for individuals as per the Kaiser Family Foundation.

COBRA generally permits certain workers who have been laid-off to continue their health insurance with their previous employers for up to 18 months.

Prior to the subsidy offer only 9 percent people, who were eligible for the coverage under COBRA, took advantage of it because it was so expensive.