Air Jordan Cool Grey 11 Cobra A Last Resort -

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Employers. COBRA applies only to individuals eligible to be covered by group health plans maintained by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year (on more than 50 percent of business days). Part-time employees count as a fraction of an employee based on hours worked. COBRA does not apply to plans sponsored by the federal government and certain church-sponsored organizations. ,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Cost of COBRA health insurance coverage. Beneficiaries are allowed to be charged 100 percent of the pro rata cost of the employer's group plan (plus a 2 percent administration fee) of similarly situated individuals who have not had a qualifying event -- including both the portion paid by employees and the portion paid by employers. (An example follows.)
COBRA -- A Temporary "Last Resort" if You Lose Your Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
In some states, if you have a family member with a serious preexisting condition, you can save tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars by becoming HIPAA-eligible, but to do this, you may have to accept and exhaust your COBRA benefits (as explained in Chapter 7). Some states require you to be HIPAA-eligible to qualify for "state-guaranteed" permanent coverage (discussed later in the chapter).
Covered employee may have up to 18 months following a qualifying event.
Spouse or dependents may have up to 36 months following a qualifying event.
Disabled persons may be allowed an additional 11 months at 150 percent of premium (versus 102 percent).
The High Cost of COBRA
For example, you might work for a typical company that has a generous health benefits package for existing employees but makes no payments toward COBRA coverage for ex-employees. Your existing health benefits plan probably costs $1,400 per month per family. (Contact your health benefits administrator to get the actual numbers for your company.) Your employer pays 100 percent of the cost for your individual health benefits ($400 per month) and 60 percent ($600 per month) of the cost ($ 1,000 per month) for your spouse and dependents (you pay the remaining 40 percent). Your family's COBRA coverage in this case, with you paying 100 percent of the costs, would be $1,428 a month,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], or $17,136 a year ($1,400 per month, or $16,800 per year, plus 2 percent admi
Beneficiaries. A qualified beneficiary is a covered employee, his or her spouse,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], or a dependent child who was eligible to be covered by the employer's group plan the day before the qualifying event.
COBRA should almost always be your last choice because it is both expensive and temporary; however, for people with expensive preexisting medical conditions that prevent them from qualifying for an affordable individual/family policy, it is a critically important backstop. You should always be familiar with your COBRA rights and obligations.
Many people are under the misconception that COBRA is "ordinarily less expensive than individual health coverage." This is false in almost all cases. COBRA typically costs individuals 102 percent of the full pro rata cost of an employer-sponsored group plan -- which, as discussed here and in Chapter 2, is two to three times the average premium paid for an individual or family policy.
Period of coverage
Qualifying event that makes a spouse and/or dependent eligible for COBRA
1 .Voluntary or involuntary termination of employment by covered employee for reasons other than "gross misconduct'
2. Reduction in the number of hours of employment by covered employee
3. Covered employee eligible for Medicare
4. Divorce or legal separation from the covered employee
5. Death of covered employee
6. Loss of "dependent child" status
Copyright ? 2005 Paul Zane Pilzer
Summary of COBRA Rules and Eligibility
Qualifying event that makes the covered employee eligible for COBRA
1. Voluntary or involuntary termination of employment for reasons other than "gross misconduct"
2. Reduction in the number of hours of employment