Health benefits for laid off employee

[Julie2473]

I was let go by my company in the travel industry on September 28th. Unfortuantly the acts of September 11th have touched me in a way I thought would never happen. Our company was forced to downsize. I was not given any notice and was told to pack up my things and pretty much leave.

I was also told that my insurance (health, dental, life) would end on the last day of my employment which was the day they asked me to leave. Can they do that? I thought that a company had to give a employer at least 30 days of coverage? People are telling me there is a law out there that states this. If that is correct how do I go about approaching the company? Should I go to the Insurance Company its self?

Any help on this would be great.
Thanks
Julie

 

[newmom]

I don't know what state you are in, but employers don't HAVE to offer any benefits whatsoever. When they do, they are not entitled to give you notice when they end. I'm not sure how many employees are in the company you work for, but if it's over 50 (I believe that's the correct number) they would be required to offer you COBRA continuation of whatever health and dental insurance you did have (this would be at your expense, however). But, if it's a small company under that number of employees, they don't even have to do that. Hope this helps, and if I'm wrong because of some state law in your state, I apologize.