As part of a $636 billion defense spending bill, Congress has forwarded a proposed extension of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) benefits.

Both the House and Senate passed short-term extensions to numerous federal programs, including an additional six months of a 65% COBRA subsidy, now set to expire at the end of February 2010, in a Department of Defense spending bill, according to published reports.

The filing deadline for the subsidy, as well as other unemployment benefits, was set to expire Dec. 31, but the spending bill also moved that deadline to Feb. 28, 2010, as millions of unemployed Americans are expected to take advantage of the programs.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the defense bill.

Nine months ago, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, unemployed workers received a nine-month subsidy from the government to continue maintaining their health care coverage. Seen as a temporary measure, the subsidy began to expire Dec. 1 for thousands of Americans who benefited from the program at its onset.

With this in mind, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) introduced the COBRA Subsidy Extension and Enhancement Act (S. 2730), extending the subsidy another six months, to 15 months, and increasing it to 75% of a workers’ premium.

That measure was referred to the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but debate has been stalled as the Senate has continued work to pass its comprehensive health care legislation.