My husband recently passed away. He worked for a small company that had fewer than 20 employees. The only thing I received from them was a short e-mail that said if I wanted to continue my health care coverage under the Virginia Continuation it would cost me $1,450.85 and I could only carry this for three months. She did not state anything about other time frames in her e-mail and that was the last I heard from the company. I elected to check on other health coverage due to the high cost she quoted me and I wanted to try and get coverage under the HIPPA Portability Act since I have many preexisting conditions. My questions is: I was trying to coverage through United Healthcare and they sent me back two replies: 1) first they said I was denied because I did not elect to take the COBRA plan that was offered. (Iexplained they didnot have COBRA...)then 2) They said I was denied because even though they didn't have COBRA, the did have the VA Continuation ! and reguardless of what it might have cost me, I had to exhaust all options of coverage first...before I could apply for other insurance. Is this really true?????

. Under Virginia's mini-COBRA law, the small business employer is required to make sure proper notice is provided to employees about the availability of this special continuation coverage no later than 30 days after the date of the employee's termination from employment. The employee then has 60 days to enroll. The premium payments for this continuation coverage may not exceed 102% of the current premium rate paid for the group policy. If you did not receive proper notice, you can contact the Virginia Bureau of Insurance for more information or to file a claim.
Regarding HIPAA, it protects those who are otherwise unable to get group health insurance. The law guarantees access to individual insurance policies and state high-risk pools for eligible individuals, but they must meet ALL of the following criteria:
• Had coverage for at least 18 months, most recently in a group health plan, without a significant break;
• Lost group coverage but not because of fraud or nonpayment of premiums;
• Are not eligible for COBRA coverage; or if COBRA coverage was offered under Federal or state law, elected and exhausted it; and
• Are not eligible for coverage under another group health plan, Medicare, or Medicaid; or have any other health insurance coverage.

If you cannot afford COBRA, there may be other health insurance options that will provide the health coverage benefits that you need for you and your family. If you are healthy, you can get health insurance much cheaper than COBRA.

http://www.cobrahealth.com/Mini-State-Laws/Virginia.htm