COBRA coverage question

[justalayman]

What is the name of your state? Michigan but involves a company in Indiana

My daughter who is getting divorced from her husband currently lives with me.
I have been told the husband was fired soon after the two split but have no confirmation of this.

My daughter attempted to use the insurance she enjoyed while with her husband and was told she is no longer covered. Now I don't know if it was because the hubby was fired or if he has somehow had my kid removed from his policy. When she spoke with the insurance company, they refused to give her any explanation basing it on the fact she was not the policy holder.

In either case is she available for continued coverage under COBRA? The ins company claims no. If she is, and the insurance company states no, who would we turn to aid in rectifying their refusal to provide details to continue coverage?

[Happy Trails]

Originally Posted by justalayman

What is the name of your state? Michigan but involves a company in Indiana

My daughter who is getting divorced from her husband currently lives with me.
I have been told the husband was fired soon after the two split but have no confirmation of this.

My daughter attempted to use the insurance she enjoyed while with her husband and was told she is no longer covered. Now I don't know if it was because the hubby was fired or if he has somehow had my kid removed from his policy. When she spoke with the insurance company, they refused to give her any explanation basing it on the fact she was not the policy holder.

In either case is she available for continued coverage under COBRA? The ins company claims no. If she is, and the insurance company states no, who would we turn to aid in rectifying their refusal to provide details to continue coverage?

I found this link that has some information in it. I wonder if her husband didn't lose coverge.

[URL="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/COBRA_Bulletin_133185_7.pdf#search='Michigan%20cobra%20continue%20coverage%20divorced'"]Michigan Cobra[/URL]

Happy Trails signing off for now.

[cbg]

COBRA is a Federal law, not a state law. Some states have continuation regulations that are similar to COBRA (and may even be called COBRA for convenience sake), but the COBRA statute is Federal.

How many employees did the husband's employer have? Do you know what he was fired for? Both answers make a difference to the question.

[ecmst12]

She's not officially divorced yet right? In that case he probably couldn't have dropped her from his coverage. He probably lost his coverage due to being fired. But either way she should be eligible for cobra. The only question is whether HE has to get cobra in order for her to be able to get it and for that, I'm really not sure.

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by cbg

COBRA is a Federal law, not a state law. Some states have continuation regulations that are similar to COBRA (and may even be called COBRA for convenience sake), but the COBRA statute is Federal.

How many employees did the husband's employer have? Do you know what he was fired for? Both answers make a difference to the question.

I'm not sure of the number of employees but I do believe it is 200-300 in this plant but it would number in the thousands worldwide.

Why he was fired is unknown. As I posted, I have actually no proof that he was fired, merely hearsay from the old friend of a friend thing. I (or my daughter) would have no way I know to acquire that info. Here again, according to the rumor mill, it had to do with the woman he was dating from his workplace. He was a supervisor and she just hourly worker. While this would make me believe it may have been a gross misconduct situation, I do not know for sure.

And as what ecmst12 posted after you cbg, they are only seperated at this time. I do believe the husband has filed for divorce though. (he stated he had divorce papers to send to my daughter but have not recieved them yet)

In your post you state that some states have "COBRA" laws of their own. Any idea as to who I would contact to inquire about this and info regarding this? WOuld the state law supercede the Fed law ?

Sorry to sound so lacking in specifics but I know of no way to get much of the exact info you need. Thanks for any help you have and can give.

[cbg]

Michigan is not one of those states which offers their own version of COBRA. The link someone posted above is for state employees only.

Unfortunately, we do not have enough information to answer your question, and if you do not have access to it there's no way for us to answer. I can think of ways your daughter could have lost coverage without being eligible for COBRA and I can think of ways it could have happened where she would be eligible. If it was a gross misconduct situation, they may have opted not to offer COBRA to him (I"ll have to do some research to see if she'd have been eligible in that case - I can't recall offhand.) If he dropped her from the coverage during open enrollment, that's another way she could have lost coverage without being eligible for COBRA. On the other hand, if he dropped her from the coverage on the basis of the separation, then she should have received COBRA notification.

Another possibility - due to her change of address, the COBRA notification did not reach her and it has now expired.

[Happy Trails]

Ooops, that would be me that posted the link.

I was getting tired and overlooked that it was for state employees. I also overlooked that he is/was employed in Indiana. Sorry

Justalayman, is your daughter not on talking terms with him?

I know these things can get ugly, but that would seem like the easiest way to find out what is going on.

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by Happy Trails

Ooops, that would be me that posted the link.

I was getting tired and overlooked that it was for state employees. I also overlooked that he is/was employed in Indiana. Sorry

Justalayman, is your daughter not on talking terms with him?

I know these things can get ugly, but that would seem like the easiest way to find out what is going on.

They are definately not on talking terms. Even if they were I don't believe he would do anything to help her in any way.

Thanks for the help you did give. It may not have answered the questions I asked but it did give me a direction of what I do need answered so I can go further. I do appreciate it.

CBG: if you do get a chance to take a look for the answer for the "gross misconduct- is she still eligible" situation, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks alot folks.

[ecmst12]

Originally Posted by cbg

If it was a gross misconduct situation, they may have opted not to offer COBRA to him

Is that legal??? I thought they were required by federal law to offer Cobra to ANYONE who loses coverage due to job termination. I guess there's exceptions for everything....that just sounds odd to me.

[cbg]

Yes, that's entirely legal. They are required to offer COBRA to anyone who loses coverage due to job termination UNLESS they were fired for gross misconduct. Employers with under 20 employees are also not required to offer COBRA. I can probably find the reference for you when I have more time.

AND I have confirmed that IF he was fired for gross misconduct, then the dependents on the plan also do not qualify for COBRA. Unfair possibly, but legal.

[mlane58]

cbg you are right about the 20 employee rule:

There are three elements to qualifying for COBRA benefits. COBRA establishes specific criteria for plans, qualified beneficiaries, and qualifying events:

Plan Coverage - Group health plans for employers with 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of its typical business days in the previous calendar year are subject to COBRA. Both full and part-time employees are counted to determine whether a plan is subject to COBRA. Each part-time employee counts as a fraction of an employee, with the fraction equal to the number of hours that the part-time employee worked divided by the hours an employee must work to be considered full time.

[justalayman]

Thanks again folks.

I guess my kid needs to ring up the HR department to find out just why he is gone and we'll go from there.

She also is talking with an attorney tomorrow. We'll hit on them as well to see what is what.