COBRA – THE CONSOLIDATED OMNIBUS BUDGET RECONCILIATION ACT

The following is excerpted from "OLR Research Report: Continuation of Coverage for Individuals Age 62 and Over" posted on the Connecticut General Assembly website: www.cga.ct.gov/2004/rpt/2004-R-0004.htm
and "OLR Research Report: Backgrounder: COBRA Continuation of Group Health Benefits" posted on the Connecticut General Assembly website: www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0682.htm

COBRA is a federal law that requires employers with 20 or more employees to let employees and their dependents keep their group health coverage for a time after they leave their group health plan under certain conditions. Those conditions include voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events.

Once your job ends, your employer must provide you with written notice explaining your rights under COBRA. You have 60 days from the date the notice is provided or from the date coverage ended – whichever is later – to elect COBRA coverage. It begins the day your health care coverage ended and lasts for up to 18 months.

SPECIAL COBRA LAW FOR CONNECTICUT RESIDENTS AGES 62-65:
If a Connecticut employee between the ages of 62 and 65 loses his/her job and the employee is eligible for COBRA, then the employer is required to extend COBRA coverage until the person reaches age 65, regardless of the number of months involved.

You should also know that under COBRA you may have to pay the entire group rate premium for health care coverage.

COBRA SUBSIDY FOR THOSE LOSING JOBS BETWEEN 9/1/08 and 2/28/10:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009 includes a subsidy of COBRA premiums for up to 15 months for employees involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 and February 28, 2010. (This does not include employees who were terminated for "gross misconduct.") The subsidy will pay for 65% of the COBRA premium for the employee and their dependents. The bill also allows eligible employees who did not elect COBRA prior to the effective date (2/17/09), or who elected it and then dropped it, to now elect it. Employers are required to notify employees who were terminated on or after 9/1/08 of their ability to elect continuation of COBRA. The employee will have 60 days after the employer’s notification date to enroll.

To read the U.S. Department of Labor’s FAQs about this program, go to: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRA.html

HELPFUL LINKS (from U.S. Department of Labor website):

• http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm
• http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-consumer-cobra.html
  

Further information on COBRA can also be found in Connecticut's Health Care Resources Guide 2006: www.211ct.org/healthcare/privatehealth.pdf

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PREPARED BY: 211/pt
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: March2012