Michael Bloomberg has agreed under pressure to provide healthcare coverage for members of his now-defunct presidential campaign through the month of November if they need it.
“Given these extraordinary circumstances, the campaign will cover the cost of COBRA through November, 2020. This is aimed at supporting those who have not already secured replacement healthcare coverage,” said an email to staff obtained by Politico’s Christopher Cadelago.
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA continuation coverage gives workers and their families who have lost health coverage due to circumstances such as job loss a chance to retain their health benefits for a limited period of time, but the monthly premiums on employer plans can be very expensive.
Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, faces several class-action lawsuits from former staffers who claim he promised to keep them employed through the general election only to fire them after suspending his presidential bid. Gupta Wessler PLLC, one of the firms representing some of Bloomberg’s former staffers, said they are pleased to see workers receive healthcare coverage, but urged Bloomberg to fulfill all the promises made to employees.
“We are pleased that the Bloomberg campaign has agreed to provide health insurance benefits to the thousands of staffers it terminated. It’s an important step in the right direction,” the firm said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “But the Bloomberg campaign must keep all of the promises it made to induce staffers to join the campaign, especially the promise to employ the staffers through the general election.”
The firm added, “It’s not too late for the campaign to put these staffers back to work and make them whole. They are eager to get back to work, help defeat Donald Trump, and elect Joe Biden in November.”
Gregg Shavitz, a partner with Shavitz Law Group who is leading a separate class-action lawsuit against Bloomberg’s campaign, told the Washington Examiner, “We believe the campaign has been motivated to extend the insurance benefits due to the pressure being exerted through the Donna Wood v. Mike Bloomberg lawsuit.”
He continued, “More than 100 terminated staffers have already joined. There are also other issues at stake in addition to the health care coverage rightfully owed to these campaign staffers because of a promise that they would be employed with benefits until the November election.”
Bloomberg is the second failed presidential candidate to offer health insurance coverage through November. Bernie Sanders’s campaign staff was guaranteed health coverage through November 2020 when the senator suspended his campaign earlier this month.
While Bloomberg has been criticized for his treatment of staff after his campaign crumbled, the billionaire had the highest-paid staff by a significant margin when he was still in the race. Campaign staff was paid double what staffers on the Sanders or Elizabeth Warren campaigns were paid during the primary.
Bloomberg spent nearly $1 billion on his three-month-long campaign. Hillary Clinton’s entire 2016 presidential bid cost nearly the same.
