COBRA--Keeping Your Insurance After Your Job Ends

The administrator of a covered group health plan must notify:
1. New employees and their spouses of their COBRA continuation rights when the employees first become covered by the plan;
2. Each qualified beneficiary of his or her COBRA continuation rights within 14 days (10 days under Minnesota law) after it receives notice of a qualifying event. Notice to the spouse of a covered employee qualifies as notice to other beneficiaries who reside with the spouse.

An employer must notify the plan administrator of a covered employee’s termination of employment, reduction in hours, death, or entitlement to Medicare benefits, or of the employer’s bankruptcy, within 30 days after the date of the event.

A qualified beneficiary must notify:
1. The plan administrator of a covered employee’s divorce or legal separation, or of a dependent child’s ceasing to meet the plan’s dependency requirements, within 60 days after the date of the event;
2. The plan administrator of a disability determination by the Social Security Administration within 60 days after the date of the determination

A disabled beneficiary must notify the plan administrator of a determination by the Social Security Administration that the beneficiary is no longer disabled within 30 days after the date of the determination.