If you lose your job at any time, you ought to know that by law you are still permitted to maintain your group health coverage. If you were given a pink slip, resigned or if your hours have been reduced to part-time, it's irrelevant.
COBRA ensures that people still have rights. COBRA, a nickname for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, is a revision of the Employee Retirement Security Act. It provides safety net when you lose your group health plan.
The reason that you no longer are employed isn't important, except if it was for gross misconduct, if not, you are presented with the opportunity to carry on your employer's group plan for up to 18 months at your own cost. COBRA coverage is offered to spouses and dependent children for as long as three years.
If you continue your plan under COBRA, you can be charged 100 percent of the premiums plus a 2 percent administrative fee. The cost of COBRA is extremely expensive and most can not maintain the payments for it.
For the most part, people who are able to use COBRA, wind up opting for individual health insurance or short-term health insurance while waiting for a new job that provides health benefits. In order to qualify for COBRA a company must have employed a minimum of 20 workers at least half the year that are enrolled in a group plan. Eligibility for COBRA is dependent on qualifying events.
These events include leaving a company and becoming unemployed or self-employed, being a widow or widower or child of an employee who died, divorced spouse or child of an employee who has left the company, or are the child of an employee and you have reached the plan's cut-off age. Under the law exemptions are granted from COBRA for federal employees, specific church-related associations and firms that provide work for fewer than 20 people.
Employers must figure part-time workers into their employee total to determine if they can claim exemption, according to the IRS rules. Various states have endorsed "mini-COBRA" laws for companies with 2 to 19 employees. - 15224
COBRA ensures that people still have rights. COBRA, a nickname for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, is a revision of the Employee Retirement Security Act. It provides safety net when you lose your group health plan.
The reason that you no longer are employed isn't important, except if it was for gross misconduct, if not, you are presented with the opportunity to carry on your employer's group plan for up to 18 months at your own cost. COBRA coverage is offered to spouses and dependent children for as long as three years.
If you continue your plan under COBRA, you can be charged 100 percent of the premiums plus a 2 percent administrative fee. The cost of COBRA is extremely expensive and most can not maintain the payments for it.
For the most part, people who are able to use COBRA, wind up opting for individual health insurance or short-term health insurance while waiting for a new job that provides health benefits. In order to qualify for COBRA a company must have employed a minimum of 20 workers at least half the year that are enrolled in a group plan. Eligibility for COBRA is dependent on qualifying events.
These events include leaving a company and becoming unemployed or self-employed, being a widow or widower or child of an employee who died, divorced spouse or child of an employee who has left the company, or are the child of an employee and you have reached the plan's cut-off age. Under the law exemptions are granted from COBRA for federal employees, specific church-related associations and firms that provide work for fewer than 20 people.
Employers must figure part-time workers into their employee total to determine if they can claim exemption, according to the IRS rules. Various states have endorsed "mini-COBRA" laws for companies with 2 to 19 employees. - 15224
About the Author:
Learn more at Arizona Health Insurance and Arkansas Health Insurance. Chimezirim Odimba helps people get quality insurance coverage for less.