Report: COBRA too expensive for most
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Most laid-off U.S. workers can't afford to continue buying health insurance through their former employers as offered in an existing program, advocates say.
In a report released Friday, Families USA, a liberal advocacy group, concluded that 1985 legislation called COBRA, designed to enable newly unemployed workers to extend their employer-based health insurance for up to 18 months, is unaffordable for the typical family, The Washington Post reported.
"COBRA health coverage is great in theory and lousy in reality," Ron Pollack of Families USA told the newspaper. "For the vast majority of workers who are laid off, they and their families are likely to join the ranks of the uninsured."
Under COBRA, the laid-off worker must pay 102 percent of the policy's full cost. The survey found that in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia, the price of a standard COBRA family plan consumes three-fourths of the average unemployment check, the Post said.
But rather than subsidize health insurance policies in the economic recovery plan, health policy analyst Nina Owcharenko of the conservative Heritage Foundation said a better move would be to offer the employed high-deductible private policies or new state-based programs, the newspaper reported.
Britain considers job internship program
LONDON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The British government says it is negotiating with major employers to set up an internship program for 400,000 college students set to graduate this summer.
With the economic crisis prompting employers to shed thousands of professional jobs, British Skills Secretary John Denham is working on a plan tentatively called the National Internship Scheme to provide help for students leaving school in "challenging" times, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Denham told the newspaper that four well-known companies, including Barclays Bank and Microsoft Corp., have already agreed to take part in the internship plan.
The Telegraph said that while no decisions have been made, government ministers are considering whether taxpayer money can be used for the idea. Denham said pay levels would be set slightly above the combined total that students would earn from a grant and a loan. The maximum annual student grant currently is $4,300 per year, while the top annual maintenance loan is worth $9,800.
British manufacturing figures plunge
LONDON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Economists scrambled to downgrade Britain's economic prospects after worse-than-expected factory production numbers were reported, analysts said.
Manufacturing output fell 7.4 percent in December compared with the year-earlier figure, the fastest annual plunge since 1981, sparking fresh warnings Friday over the depth of the recession facing the U.K., The Times of London reported.
The influential National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimated Britain's economy probably shrank by 1.5 percent in the final quarter 2008 -- almost three times the 0.6 percent contraction suffered in the third quarter. Analyst Michael Saunders of Citigroup told the newspaper he now expects GDP to drop by 2.5 percent in 2009, which would be the worst decline for 60 years.
"The downturn in manufacturing is now on a scale not seen since the early 1980s," said John Cridland, deputy director-general of the Center for Business Intelligence.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said action was needed from business leaders and unions, saying that the production of high-quality goods must form the backbone of a survival plan, The Times reported.
British Ugg boots importer closes doors
LONDON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The leading British importer of the fashionable Australian-made Ugg boots has closed its doors, signaling possible supply problems, observers said.
The importer, Kate Kuba, has gone into administration (bankruptcy) and has closed all of its nine London stores, with its Web site saying it is "currently down for maintenance," The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.
A shortage of Ugg boots would affect everyday British shoppers as well as celebrities, who have shown a special fondness for the fur-lined footwear. The boots are hugely popular with women, including such female celebrities such as model Kate Moss and actress Sarah Jessica Parker. They also have high-profile male fans such as actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, the newspaper said.
Retail analysts said Kate Kuba has been named best women's footwear retailer four times by the fashion industry magazine Drapers. It was established by Cypriot Costas Constantinou in 1993.
The Telegraph said nobody from Ugg was available for comment.
