You Must Give Notice of Some Qualifying Events
For the other qualifying events (divorce or legal separation of the employee and spouse or a
dependent child’s losing eligibility for coverage as a dependent child), you must notify the Plan
Administrator within 60 days after the qualifying event occurs. You must provide this notice to
the plan administrator or the acting Human Resource Manager at the time of your qualifying
event.
How is COBRA Coverage Provided?
Once the Plan Administrator receives notice that a qualifying event has occurred, COBRA continuation
coverage will be offered to each of the qualified beneficiaries. Each qualified beneficiary will have an
independent right to elect COBRA continuation coverage. Covered employees may elect COBRA
continuation coverage on behalf of their spouses, and parents may elect COBRA continuation coverage
on behalf of their children.
COBRA continuation coverage is a temporary continuation of coverage. When the qualifying event is
the death of the employee, the employee's becoming entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part
B, or both), your divorce or legal separation, or a dependent child's losing eligibility as a dependent
child, COBRA continuation coverage lasts for up to a total of 36 months. When the qualifying event is
the end of employment or reduction of the employee's hours of employment, and the employee became
entitled to Medicare benefits less than 18 months before the qualifying event, COBRA continuation
coverage for qualified beneficiaries other than the employee lasts until 36 months after the date of
Medicare entitlement. For example, if a covered employee becomes entitled to Medicare 8 months
before the date on which his employment terminates, COBRA continuation coverage for his spouse and
children can last up to 36 months after the date of Medicare entitlement, which is equal to 28 months
after the date of the qualifying event (36 months minus 8 months). Otherwise, when the qualifying
event is the end of employment or reduction of the employee’s hours of employment, COBRA
continuation coverage generally lasts for only up to a total of 18 months. There are two ways in which
this 18-month period of COBRA continuation coverage can be extended.
Disability extension of 18-month period of continuation coverage
If you or anyone in your family covered under the Plan is determined by the Social Security
Administration to be disabled and you notify the Plan Administrator in a timely fashion, you and your
entire family may be entitled to receive up to an additional 11 months of COBRA continuation coverage,
for a total maximum of 29 months. The disability would have to have started at some time before the
60th day of COBRA continuation coverage and must last at least until the end of the 18-month period of
continuation coverage.
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