#1 When I get divorced and my spouse drops me from the group health plan, this is an area of contention because spouses and dependents can be dropped from the health insurance plan months before a divorce is final. The administrator can issue a cobra notice if they determine the health plan participant was un enrolled in anticipation of divorce.
#2 If you are not offered COBRA, it could be for any number of reasons. Perhaps the health plan administrator is unorganized, or the employer never notified the administrator you were terminated. If you qualify for COBRA, the employer / administrator has a total of 44 days to send you paperwork.
#3 Mini COBRA is required in most states if you were in your employer's group health plan had 2-19 full times employees the prior calender year. Only Alaska, Alabama, and Delaware do not currently require mini cobra.
#4 If your employer goes BK, often the result is the group health plan that was continued for some participants under COBRA is ended. Your circumstance might include some of the assets of the company being bought, employees stay on, and business as usual. More often, the company is liquidated and the assets sold.
#5 If don't qualify for COBRA, the employer / administrator has 14 days to send you an "unavailability notice." They have to say why you were denied and give you a chance to appeal. Congress did not want administrators denying potential participants for frivolous reasons.
#6 Being fired for gross misconduct should be accompanied by evidence, like memos and other disciplinary history. If your former employer does not fight your unemployment claim, that could support your not being fired for gross misconduct. You should still get a denial letter.
#7 Unless you are suing or complaining to the DOL or IRS, you should direct your correspondence to the health plan administrator. They are your primary point of contact.
#8 The subsidy has been over as of May 31, 2010, but you still may qualify for the HCTC or Health Coverage Tax Credit. Mostly available to union workers or employees laid off because of overseas competition. Also retirees over 55 may qualify if their pension plans have been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
#9 The majority of employers still have to offer you COBRA. Some exceptions include Church plans including school employees that are tied to churches. Also the federal government having over 2,000,000 employees, called under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Amendments Act, not COBRA. Also group health plans with under 20 employees would fall under the mini COBRA statute.
#10 If you have a chronic condition or under expensive medications you should not put off COBRA. HIPAA is available to you if you have exhausted your COBRA.
Healthy Tip: If you have no chronic heath conditions, are not on expensive medications, and have no undiagnosed conditions, consider a high deductible plan. Low or no deductible PPO or HMO plans increased an average of 10% last year (2010).
Craig Casey is an Writer, Coach, Blogger, Husband, and Former Health Insurance Agent helping people on the web since 1999 with their health insurance problems.
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