December won't be kind to the millions of Americans still looking for work in this sluggish economy. After December 31, over 1 million workers will lose eligibility for the next tier of unemployment insurance benefits provided by the economic stimulus plan. And beginning today, 7 million unemployed individuals will see their health insurance premiums soar.

One central provision of the Obama administration's stimulus package was federal subsidies for COBRA health insurance coverage, the program that offers departing workers the chance to pay out-of-pocket for coverage under their previous employer's plan. Beginning in March, the stimulus plan covered 65 percent of unemployed workers' COBRA benefits. Today, those subsidies run out. "Business analyst" Phil Flynn noted the development on WFLD's Good Day Chicago this morning:

Sans a hefty subsidy, the COBRA rates will be out of reach for many of those 7 million workers lacking steady incomes. The organization Families USA reports that the average unemployed family will see premiums jump from $389 per month to more than $1,100. If you're subsisting on weekly unemployment checks, those insurance costs will amount to 82 percent of the average take-home income. That means the unemployed will either venture out into the treacherous private insurance market or drop their health coverage altogether.

The Senate is clearly interested in extending COBRA assistance, but will likely do so through its jobs bill, which won't even be debated until early next year. So far, it's unclear where the money will come from to pay for an extension or whether or not it would be retroactive. In other words, support won't be coming for at least a few months.

We're hunting around for some Illinois-centric data regarding COBRA and will update this post if we find anything of interest.