Senators are doing the right thing by pushing an $8 billion addition to fund several more months of COBRA subsidies for workers laid off after June 1. We wonder, then, why House Dems, who say they care deeply about health care, didn’t sign on.

This sounds like something better done from Washington. Democrats tried to get unanimous consent on an extension, couldn’t, and went home, vowing to take it up later and make the benefits retroactive. That’s a costly activity that adds uncertainty to both families and state governments. And it didn’t really need to happen.