Is the cost of health insurance so out of reach that even when the federal government helps out, many people still can’t afford coverage? According to a new analysis by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, the answer may be yes.

The institute, a nonpartisan group, looked at the recent experience with the Cobra program that allows people to extend their employer-provided coverage when they lose their job by letting them pay their own premiums. Last year, the federal government offered to pay 65 percent of the cost of the premiums, but fewer people than expected took advantage of the subsidy, according to the institute’s analysis of census data.

No matter how you count it, according to the Institute, the results were disappointing. “There are widely conflicting estimates of how many people benefited from the COBRA subsidy, but generally there has been lower-than-expected use of the subsidy. This may be due to the fact that, even after the subsidy, COBRA premiums may not be affordable for many families, especially at a time when they have seen a decline in income and since health insurance is expensive even with the subsidy,” according to the article, which was published in the group’s October Notes.

Even after the subsidies, the price tag for insurance is high, according to the Institute. Family coverage cost, on average, more than $13,000 a year, so that after the subsidy families would still have to pay nearly $5,000 for coverage.

This could be depressing news for the new health care law, which also relies on subsidies to help people who could otherwise not afford coverage purchase insurance. Fewer people may end up with health insurance because they still cannot afford coverage, even with the subsidies, said Paul Fronstin, the director of the institute’s health research and education program who wrote the article.

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