Cobra concelled without notice

What is the name of your state? Minnesota. My ex-employer cancelled BCBS insurance effective 7-31. I was given no notice and no option to choose another plan to avoid lapse in service. I had surgery on 8-3 thinking I was covered. I only discovered the problem when the pharmacy told me the insurance card was not valid. I have been working since trying to get this resolved. As of today, 8-13, no new insurance and the only insurance they say I can get in Minnesota (I was the only MN employee) is $ 500 more per month that the "standard" policy for the remainder of the company. My premium will jump to $ 1500 per month. Because of the surgery I had on 8-3, I have no choice but take some coverage. BCBS would have converted me to an individual policy for less has I done so prior to 7-31 when the company cancelled. Now they will not do that. So by not getting ANY notice, I lost all my options and have effectively been without health insurance since 7-31. The company in based in Philadelphia and incorporated in Delaware. One final note, prescriptions that have now run out, that I should be taking daily, I can't get filled because of this. Any advice is appreciated.

Whether you have any recourse depends on WHY the COBRA was terminated.

If your 18 months was up, the employer has no legal obligation to provide you with any notice. Your initial paperwork would have told you when the coverage would expire and it was up to YOU, not the employer, to keep track. While some employers do provide such notice as a courtesy, they are not required to do so.

Likewise if you neglected to send in your premium on time, the employer was within his rights to cancel as soon as the grace period had expired. They have no legal obligation to notify you that your coverage was in danger; you know that you have the obligation to make payments.

For whatever other reasons, it would depend on the situation. As an example, if the company suddenly went bankrupt on 7-29 and the policy was cancelled because of that effective 7-31, they obviously would not be able to notify you.

Essentially, if your coverage was cancelled for any reason other than non-payment or expiration, you are entitled to exactly the same amount of notice that the active employees get.