Meanwhile, millions of workers don't qualify for Cobra in the first place, because the law doesn't cover the self-employed or those working for companies that abruptlyshut down or are too small, or those who didn't offer health insurance to begin with.
In July, Peter Wuffli stepped down abruptly as chief executive of UBS months after that firm took big losses from subprime mortgage holdings and shut down its Dillon Read hedge fund unit.