On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed an economic stimulus package. A government subsidy toward the cost of COBRA health insurance coverage was included in this package. On March 2, 2010, President Obama signed an extension for the COBRA subsidy, which expired March 31. On April 15, 2010, the president signed another extension to the subsidy,  providing an extension of the 15-month subsidy to employees involuntarily terminated from April 1 through May 31.

Details of the subsidy and its impact on Columbia University and its employees are provided here.