It’s been very hard to read my emails lately. As you can imagine, I’ve been getting lots of heart-wrenching stories from people who have lost their jobs, their homes, their lives as they knew them.

But the one thing that many laid off workers say they’re worried about most is the loss of their health insurance coverage.

Many of you may be thinking, “that’s what COBRA is for.” COBRA, aka Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows workers who have lost their jobs and health coverage to buy into the group plan on a temporary basis to cover themselves and family members.

Turns out it’s too costly for many, even with a government subsidy that was part of the Obama administration’s stimulus plan.

Lots of people are now eligible for COBRA because so many workers are unemployed, but a shrinking percentage of individuals are actually signing up because it’s just too expensive, according to a report released last week by the Spencer’s Benefits Reports 2009 COBRA Survey. “While 16.87 percent of employees became eligible for COBRA in the 2008 plan year at companies covered by the survey, only 9.69 percent of those eligible actually signed up for coverage.”

With the stimulus subsidy, an employee would have to pay $320.60 for individual coverage, according to the Spencer report, put out by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. A huge sum if they are only relying on an unemployment check to make ends meet.

Without COBRA as an option, buying insurance on the open market may be even more costly and definitely more difficult.

A story in the Wall Street Journal today by Anna Wilde Mathews does a great job explaining the problem and the growing trend:

A growing number of consumers will likely need to pore over such health-insurance details as out-of-pocket maximums and excluded benefits. After holding steady for several years, the number of people buying their own coverage rose to an estimated 18.4 million last year from 17.9 million in 2007, and is expected to grow to 19.6 million this year and 20 million in 2010, according to an analysis by McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm attributed the expected increases largely to lost jobs and employers cutting workplace benefits.

Consumers can find coverage on their own through an agent, or from one of the growing number of insurance-brokerage Web sites. Policies also can be purchased directly from insurers, but this doesn’t allow consumers to compare plans from different companies. Regardless of where you buy a plan, your premium for that policy will be the same.

Again, the issue of high cost is a big problem with plans people buy on their own, costing upwards of $1,000 a month for a comprehensive family plan.

This is one of the biggest issues of our time — how will hard-working Americans who may be out of work afford health-care coverage? And what about those who are employed? More and more employers are asking their workers to pay up a bigger share of premiums, or cutting medical coverage all together.

That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to the health care reform debate going on right now.

We need a major overhaul but many in Congress are too chicken to stand up for a serious bill.

This from the New York Times this past Sunday:

Dianne Feinstein of California joined Republicans in voicing reservations. Ms. Feinstein, who appeared on “State of the Union,” said that controlling the cost of a new health-care system “is a very major and difficult subject.”

Ms. Feinstein also said that Mr. Obama might not have the votes in the Senate to pass his legislation. “I think there’s a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus,” she said.

Labor advocates are understandably upset that even pro-worker, Democrats are now back pedaling.

“Every day, families are losing their homes, piling up debt and filing for bankruptcy when they face a healthcare emergency. Those families cannot wait - they need comprehensive healthcare reform now,” says Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. “The longer we wait to fix healthcare, the worse it will get and more families will face financial ruin simply because they got sick.”

On Friday, a watered-down bipartisan bill is expected to be unveiled, but will it go far enough?