You may worry about losing the health insurance benefits in case of job loss. This can make it hard for you to cover the health expenses of your family. So that is why you can make use of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act? Its acronym is COBRA and it is a health insurance program that aids eligible employees and their family. It will help them to gain the benefits of their health insurance for a certain period of time even after loss of job. Therefore, Cobra will help them with the continuation of health insurance even after its termination. Here you will learn about the advantages of Cobra. You can find all the details about it here.
Table of Contents
Know about the Cobra insurance?
Many companies in the US have to offer health insurance for their employees. They need to pay the insurance premiums of their employees. But the employee of the company may become ineligible for such health insurance benefits if they lose the job. So in these cases, the Cobra insurance can help the employee get the benefits of the health insurance. This arrangement can assist the employees for a limited period until he or she makes another permanent arrangement.
In the Cobra state continuation coverage, the former employees, their spouses, and children can get continued benefits. Without cobra insurance, they can become ineligible to make use of health insurance benefits. This can happen if the employee loses the job or his work hours get limited.
However, the dependants may have to pay more insurance premiums than before because the employee’s company may not pay the insurance premium. Yet the insurance premiums they pay under Cobra will be definitely less than the actual individual health insurance plan. The Cobra will cover the employee’s medical expenses like medicines, vision care, and dental treatments. But it does not cover life insurance and disability insurance.
How can you qualify for Cobra benefits?
The criteria for qualifying for Cobra may vary depending on the employees. They have to meet the criteria and also qualify for some important things set by Cobra. For instance, employers with 20 or more full-time employees can provide Cobra insurance for their workers. The labour hours of part-time working employees can get joined together to make a full-time employee. This will decide the Cobra applicability.
Moreover, the Cobra is also suitable for the companies of the private sector employers. Also, it applies to companies that get sponsorship from local and state governments. The states may also have some specific local laws for Cobra. They are known as the Mini-Cobra plans.
Furthermore, the employee who is eligible for Cobra has to be part of the company’s group health insurance plan. The plan has to be effective on half of the employees’ business days in the calendar. Then the employer has to offer his working employees the health insurance benefits for the employee who is leaving the job to qualify. On the whole, an employee has to lose the benefit of health insurance to acquire the benefits of Cobra.
Firstly, the employee has to be in the state of voluntary or involuntary job loss caused by situations like the Coronavirus pandemic. He cannot qualify for the Cobra benefits if he loses his job because of misconduct.
Secondly, the employee’s work hours can get limited and because of that he or she may lose employer insurance coverage. These are the two cases that can make an employee qualified to get Cobra benefits.
Hope you have learnt all about Cobra. You can enquire more about its benefits from reliable sources. So this will help you to get health benefits even when you lose the job or your working hours get less.
Here are the answers to your questions regarding State Continuation of Health Insurance
Question 1 : What does State Continuation mean?
Answer : State law allows an employer with fewer than 20 employees to extend its group health insurance for up to nine months. It’s because of loosing the job or they loss the coverage because of reduction in work hours. COBRA applies nationwide, according to a federal law, that is applicable for employer group mentioned above.
Question 2 : Is State Continuation the same as COBRA?
Answer : Yes, State continuation is similar to COBRA that is applicable to employers group with fewer than 20 people. It is know as mini-COBRA, employer group need to have a minimum of 3 employees.
Question 3 : How long must an Employer provide Health Insurance after termination?
Answer : There is not such law that asks coverage to a minimum time period. But, after the termination through COBRA, an employer should allow you to access to its health insurance plan for a minimum of 18 months.
Question 4 : Can my employer cancel my health insurance without notice?
Answer : Yes, your employer can cancel your health insurance without notice. He may give you a little time or no notice at all. In that case, if your plan is canceled, no COBRA will be available. Main reason of cancellation of your health coverage by your employer can be switching to a new “health insurance provide company”.
Question 5 : Does health insurance end the day you quiet the job or company?
Answer : That totally depends on your employer, that have right to decide whether to continue your health insurance coverage for rest of the period or he may decide not to continue after the day you quiet.
