WHO IS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS?
There are three elements to qualifying for COBRA benefits. COBRA establishes specific criteria for plans, beneficiaries and events which initiate the coverage. PLAN COVERAGE Group health plans for employers with 20 or more employees on at least 50 percent of the working days in the previous calendar year are subject to COBRA. “Employees” include full-time and part-time workers, agents, independent contractors and directors, and certain self-employed individuals eligible to participate in a group health plan. A qualified beneficiary generally is any individual covered by a group health plan on the day before a qualifying event. A qualified beneficiary may be an employee, the employee’s spouse and dependent children, and in certain cases, a retired employee, the retired employee’s spouse and dependent children. QUALIFYING EVENTS “Qualifying events” are certain types of events that would cause, except for COBRA continuation coverage, an individual to lose health coverage. The type of qual
