medical insurance

[tatbutterfly]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OH
I lost my job two weeks ago I had to pay med insur on my last check and when I went to the er yesterday that told me that I don't have insur. I have never received anything saying that I don't nor have I received cobra info. I thought I was covered for 30 days after am I wrong. when insur was called they said that it was canceled on oct 30th which was the day that I was let go

 

[pattytx]

Depends on the plan rules. Some plans, coverage is cancelled on your last day worked; some plans on the last day of the month in which your termination occurs. We would have no way of knowing; the HR department at your prior employer should be able to tell you.

 

[cbg]

There is no law in Ohio or any other state that guarantees an additional 30 days of coverage after the date of termination. There is one state, and it is not Ohio, where the law requires that coverage be continued till the last day of the month in which employment ends, but that's about it.

The plan document, and only the plan document, determines when coverage ends. In my experience (which covers about 30 years) about 50% of the time it ends the last day of employment and the other 50% of the time it ends on the last day of the month in which employment ends.

A lot of people make the mistake of assuming that deductions ALWAYS run forward and that therefore, if there is a deduction taken from the final pay, it means that coverage will continue beyond the last day of employment. The problem is that this is not true. Often deductions run backwards; i.e. a deduction taken on September 1 is not for September 1-7, but for August 24-31. Because of this you cannot assume that coverage extends beyond the last day of employment.

If you have a copy of the plan document (they are required to provide you with a copy of the SPD on request) it will tell you when coverage ends. However, it is by no means impossible, and it is quite legal, for coverage to end on the last day of employment, even if a deduction was taken from the final check.

BTW, you are still well within the legal time for them to send information about COBRA, if they haven't already. If you elect COBRA, it will be retroactive to October 30 and cover any bills incurred in the meantime.