How long does COBRA coverage last?
COBRA establishes required periods of coverage for continuation health benefits. A plan, however, may provide longer periods of coverage beyond those required by COBRA. COBRA beneficiaries generally are eligible for group coverage during a maximum of 18 months for qualifying events due to employment termination or reduction of hours of work. Certain qualifying events, or a second qualifying event during the initial period of coverage, may permit a beneficiary to receive a maximum of 36 months of coverage. Your COBRA coverage begins on the date that coverage would otherwise have been lost by reason of a qualifying event and will end at the end of the maximum period. It may end earlier if you don’t pay your premiums on a timely bases or if your former employer ceases to maintain any group health plan.
Generally, individuals who qualify initially are covered for a maximum of 18 months, but coverage may end earlier under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include: • Premiums are not paid on time • Your former employer decides to discontinue a health plan altogether • You obtain coverage with another employer’s group health plan (There may be some exception if your new employer’s health plan excludes or limits benefits for a preexisting condition—basically a medical condition present before you enrolled in the plan. Please see the discussion on HIPAA that follows.) • You become entitled to Medicare benefits Employers may offer longer periods of COBRA coverage but are only required to do so under special circumstances, such as disability (yours or a family member’s), your death or divorce, or when your child ceases to meet the definition of a dependent child under the health plan.
Generally, individuals who qualify initially are covered for a maximum of 18 months, but coverage may end earlier under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include: • Premiums are not paid on time; • Your former employer decides to discontinue a health plan altogether; • You obtain coverage with another employers group health plan; (There may be some exception if your new employers health plan excludes or limits benefits for a preexisting condition basically a medical condition present before you enrolled in the plan. Please see the discussion of HIPAA above.) • You become entitled to Medicare benefits. Employers may offer longer periods of COBRA coverage but are only required to do so under special circumstances, such as disability (yours or a family members), your death or divorce, or when your child ceases to meet the definition of a dependent child under the health plan.
COBRA benefits generally last for a maximum of 18 months for employment termination or reduction of hours of work. Certain qualifying events may permit a beneficiary to receive a maximum of 36 months of coverage. COBRA coverage ends earlier if: • Premiums are not paid on a timely basis • The employer ceases to maintain any group health plan • a beneficiary becomes entitled to Medicare benefits. COBRA alternatives vary in maximum duration. Maximum coverage lengths under popular COBRA coverage lengths are: • 6 months • 12 months • 36 months • renewable (indefinite) The average duration of all individual health insurance policies in the U.S.- including COBRA and all non-COBRA policies – is about 11 months according to the data compiled by health insurance companies. This likely reflects the time a person is typically “between jobs” and without insurance coverage as well as the amount of time it takes an insurance buyer finds a better deal in the market (frequently at the time of premium i
