FAQs About COBRA Continuation Health Coverage

What is COBRA continuation health coverage?
Congress passed the landmark Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act health benefit provisions in 1986.  The law amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Service Act to provide continuation of group health coverage that otherwise might be terminated.

What does COBRA do?
COBRA contains provisions giving certain former employees, retirees, spouses former spouses, and dependent children the right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates.  This coverage, however, is only available when coverage is lost due to certain specific events.  Group health coverage for COBRA participants is usually more expensive than health coverage for active employees, since usually the employer pays a part of the premium for active employees while COBRA participants generally pay the entire premium themselves.  It is ordinarily less expensive, though, than individual health coverage.

Which employers are required to offer COBRA coverage?
Employers with 20 or more employees are usually required to offer COBRA coverage and to notify their employees of the availability of such coverage.  COBRA applies to plans maintained by private-sector employers and sponsored by most state and local governments.

Who is entitled to benefits under COBRA?
There are 3 elements to qualifying for COBRA benefits.  COBRA establishes specific criteria for plans, qualified beneficiaries, and qualifying events:

Plan Coverage - Group health plans for employers with 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of its typical business days in the previous calendar year are subject to COBRA.  Both full and part-time employees are counted to determine whether a plan is subject to COBRA.  Each part-time employee counts as a fraction on an employee, with the fraction equal to the number of hours that the part-time employee worked divided by the hours an employee must work to be considered full-time.

Qualified Beneficiaries - A qualified beneficiary generally is an individual covered by a group health plan on the day before a qualifying event who is either an employee, the employee's spouse, or an employee's dependent child.  In certain cases, a retired employee, the retired employee's spouse, and the retired employee's dependent children may be qualified beneficiaries.  In addition, any child born to or placed for adoption with a covered employee during the period of COBRA coverage is considered a qualified beneficiary.  Agents, independent contractors, and directors who participate in the group health plan may also be qualified beneficiaries.

Qualifying Events - Qualifying events are certain events that would cause an individual to lose health coverage.  The type of qualifying event will determine who the qualified beneficiaries are and the amount of time that a plan must offer the health coverage to them under COBRA.  A plan, at its discretion,  may provide longer periods of continuation coverage.

The qualifying events for employees are:

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of employment for reasons other than gross misconduct

• Reduction in the number of hours of employment

The qualifying events for spouses are:

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of the covered employee's employment for any reason other than gross misconduct

• Reduction in the hours worked by the covered employee

• Covered employee's becoming entitled to Medicare

• Divorce or legal separation of the covered employee

• Death of the covered employee

The qualifying events for dependent children are the same as for the spouse with one addition:

• Loss of dependent child status under the plan rules

Under COBRA, what benefits must be covered?
Qualified beneficiaries must be offered coverage identical to that available to similarly situated beneficiaries who are not receiving COBRA coverage under the plan (generally, the same coverage that the qualified beneficiary had immediately before qualifying for continuation coverage).  A change in the benefits under the plan for the active employees will also apply to qualified beneficiaries.  Qualified beneficiaries must be allowed to make the same choices given to non-COBRA beneficiaries under the plan, such as during periods of open enrollment by the plan.

Who pays for COBRA coverage?
Beneficiaries may be required to pay for COBRA coverage.  The premium cannot exceed 102 percent of the cost to the plan for similarly situated individuals who have not incurred a qualifying event, including both the portion paid by employees and any portion paid by the employer before the qualifying event, plus 2 percent for administrative costs.

For qualified beneficiaries receiving the 11 month disability extension of coverage, the premium for those additional months may be increased to 150 percent of the plan's total cost of coverage.

COBRA premiums may be increased if the costs to the plan increase but generally must be fixed in advance of each 12-month premium cycle.  The plan must allow qualified beneficiaries to pay premiums on a monthly basis if they ask to do so, and the plan may allow them to make payments at other intervals (weekly or quarterly).

The initial premium payment must be made within 45 days after the date of the COBRA election by the qualified beneficiary.  Payment generally must cover the period of coverage from the date of COBRA election retroactive to the date of the loss of coverage due to the qualifying event.  Premiums for successive periods of coverage are due on the date stated in the plan with a minimum 30-day grace period for payments.  Payment is considered to be made on the date it is sent to the plan.

If premiums are not paid by the first day of the period of coverage, the plan has the option to cancel coverage until payment is received and then reinstate coverage retroactively to the beginning of the period of coverage.

If the amount of the payment made to the plan is made in error but is not significantly less than the amount due, the plan is required to notify the qualified beneficiary of the deficiency and grant a reasonable period (for this purpose, 30 days is considered reasonable) to pay the difference.  The plan is not obligated to send monthly premium notices.

COBRA beneficiaries remain subject to the rules of the plan and therefore must satisfy all costs related to co-payments and deductibles, and are subject to catastrophic and other benefit limits.

What is the Federal Government's role in COBRA?
COBRA continuation coverage laws are administered by several agencies.  The Departments of Labor and Treasury have jurisdiction over private-sector health group health plans.  The Department of Health and Human Services administers the continuation coverage law as it affects public-sector health plans.

The Labor Department's interpretive and regulatory responsibility is limited to the disclosure and notification requirements of COBRA.  If you need further information about ERISA generally, write to the EBSA office nearest where you live.  Consult the U.S. Government, U.S. Department of Labor listing in your telephone directory for the office nearest you or call EBSA's Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number at: 1.866.444.EBSA (3272) and request a list of EBSA offices, or write to:

U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Suite N-5619
Washington, DC 20210

The Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, has issued regulations on COBRA provisions relating to eligibility, coverage and premiums in 26 CFR Part 54, Continuation Coverage Requirements Applicable to Group Health Plans.  Both the Departments of Labor and Treasury share jurisdiction for enforcement of these provisions.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services offers information about COBRA provisions for public-sector employees.  You can write them at this address:

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard
Mail Stop S3-16-26
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850
Tel 410.786.3000

Who can answer other COBRA questions?
COBRA administration is shared by three federal agencies.  The U.S. Department of Labor handles questions about notification rights under COBRA for private-sector employees.  The Department of Health and Human Services handles questions relating to state and local government workers.  The Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, has other COBRA jurisdiction.

More details about COBRA coverage are included in the booklet An Employer's Guide to Group Health Continuation Coverage Under COBRA - The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986. To request a copy, call EBSA toll-free: 1.866.444.EBSA (3272).