COBRA info

[CJane]

What is the name of your state? MO

What are the rules/regs/statutes that determine when an employee should be offered COBRA benefits upon separation?

 

[ecmst12]

Pretty much always, unless the company went out of business or something and the entire plan was cancelled (for current employees too), or there was GROSS misconduct by the terminated person.

 

[cbg]

The law does not define what is considered gross misconduct. I've always been advised that unless you (or someone) can prosecute, you are safest in offering COBRA.

Otherwise, as stated above, COBRA has to be offered any time, as long as the active employees will also be offered medical insurance. If for some reason there will no longer be coverage for active employees, COBRA does not have to be offered.

If you are asking about the time frames under which it has to be offered, the employer has up to 44 days from the end of coverage (which is not necessarily the last day of employment) to provide you with your COBRA information. You have 60 days from the time you receive it to make your decision, and 45 days from the day you make your decision to send in your first payment. That first payment needs to cover all the time from the cancellation of coverage to present, however long that might have been. COBRA coverage is always retroactive to the day of cancellation.

 

[CJane]

If you are asking about the time frames under which it has to be offered, the employer has up to 44 days from the end of coverage (which is not necessarily the last day of employment) to provide you with your COBRA information.

Really? I've been assuming that I've been uninsured since separation...

 

[cbg]

It depends on what the plan document says. The two most common policies are either the last day of employment, or the last day of the month in which employment ended.

At the last place where I administrated COBRA, we used the last day of the month in which employment ended. If the last day you worked was the 1st of the month, you were covered for the entire month. If the last day you worked was the 31st of the month, that was the last day of coverage as well.

However, probably just as many places also use the last day of employment. So you'll have to see what your plan document says.

 

[CJane]

It depends on what the plan document says. The two most common policies are either the last day of employment, or the last day of the month in which employment ended.

At the last place where I administrated COBRA, we used the last day of the month in which employment ended. If the last day you worked was the 1st of the month, you were covered for the entire month. If the last day you worked was the 31st of the month, that was the last day of coverage as well.

However, probably just as many places also use the last day of employment. So you'll have to see what your plan document says.

I just called the insurer. They said I still show as covered, with no termination date pending.

YAY! I think I broke my thumb this weekend, and I've been trying to figure out how to get xrays w/no insurance. Looks like I don't have to!

 

[cbg]

What was your last day of work?

 

[moburkes]

What was your last day of work?

Yep. Be careful, CJane. Just because THEIR system doesn't show it as terminated yet, doesn't mean that it isn't. For example, if it was the last day of work, they might not show the termination for 30 days, and it would be retroactive to that last day of work.

 

[CJane]

Well, I was termed on July 6. I just looked at my last pay stub, and insurance was withheld from it - which means I'm paid through July.

Hopefully, that means I'm insured through July. I just went and had x-rays/a splint put on my hand.

 

[cbg]

Hopefully that's what it means, but it's not a guarantee. Deductions do not always go forward; sometimes they go backwards. i.e. The deduction taken on October first pays for the coverage between September 15 and September 30.

The first thing an employer does is NOT cancel the insurance. I generally did that about once every two weeks or so, taking care of any cancellations that had come to my attention since the last time. For that matter, I wasn't always even notified of a termination until two or three or even four weeks after the termination had taken place. (If it was that long after the fact I tried to take care of it immediately.)

But even if it eventually proves that cancellation IS July 6, since COBRA is ALWAYS retroactive to the cancellation date you'll have coverage that way.

 

[CJane]

Hopefully that's what it means, but it's not a guarantee. Deductions do not always go forward; sometimes they go backwards. i.e. The deduction taken on October first pays for the coverage between September 15 and September 30.

Maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm fairly certain these go forward... we just changed plans on July 1, so my withholding changed a bit. The withholding on both July checks was the new amount.

The first thing an employer does is NOT cancel the insurance. I generally did that about once every two weeks or so, taking care of any cancellations that had come to my attention since the last time. For that matter, I wasn't always even notified of a termination until two or three or even four weeks after the termination had taken place. (If it was that long after the fact I tried to take care of it immediately.)

I understand that. However, this was a small company and the HR person was in the meeting at which I was termed. So, she was definitely aware of the termination, and it's been 3 weeks...

But even if it eventually proves that cancellation IS July 6, since COBRA is ALWAYS retroactive to the cancellation date you'll have coverage that way.

Guess I'll sit tight and see what happens.

If I'm NOT offered COBRA w/in 44 days of my term date or 44 days of tomorrow (assuming my insurance didn't term until end of month), do I have recourse other than harassing the HR person via phone/email?

There was no misconduct, gross or otherwise. I've already been approved for unemployment and received checks - so they're not claiming anything negative against me.

 

[moburkes]

If you're not offered it, then you need to ask for it. The penalties for the employer do NOT benefit you. You still need to make arrangements to start making those payments. Therefore, at day 30 start calling the employer.

 

[ecmst12]

You can call the HR person and ask when your insurance will be termed.

 

[CJane]

If you're not offered it, then you need to ask for it. The penalties for the employer do NOT benefit you. You still need to make arrangements to start making those payments. Therefore, at day 30 start calling the employer.

I wasn't seeking benefit from any penalties they may/may not incur. I was just curious, if I run into issues, if there's a 'reporting agency' that could help me out.

 

[CJane]

You can call the HR person and ask when your insurance will be termed.

I did. I left her a VM... even told her that I had an appointment at 245 this afternoon for x-rays and stuff and would appreciate a call before then. She never did call me back. That's why I called the insurer. The doctor's office also called the insurer to verify coverage before doing the x-rays.