If you’re one of those folks who accepted the COBRA offer from your employer thinking you would quickly get another job that never materialized there is a new Special Election Period (SEP) to help you. Perhaps you were offered a going away package that included your former employer paying all or most of your COBRA medical plan for several months. If the payment ended before you got another job it is unlikely that COBRA is affordable to you as an unemployed person. Since your former employer is no longer helping you pay for your health insurance you might need help from another source. To eliminate this burden CMS(Centers of Medicaid and Medicare) recently announced that you have until July 1, 2014 to apply for a health insurance plan through the Marketplace with a government subsidy.