Health Benefits Advisor for Employers

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

Does your group health plan provide each qualified beneficiary with at least 60 days to elect COBRA coverage, and does your plan permit each qualified beneficiary to revoke his or her waiver of COBRA coverage during that election period?

• Yes
• No

Rights of Qualified Beneficiaries in Electing COBRA Coverage

COBRA requires group health plans to give qualified beneficiaries an election period during which they can decide whether to elect COBRA coverage. COBRA also gives qualified beneficiaries specific election rights.

Election period for COBRA coverage

At a minimum, each qualified beneficiary must be given at least 60 days to choose whether or not to elect COBRA coverage, beginning from the later of the date on which the qualified beneficiary would otherwise lose coverage under the group health plan due to the qualifying event, or the date the election notice is provided.

Independent right to elect COBRA coverage

Each qualified beneficiary must be given an independent right to elect COBRA coverage. This means that when several individuals (such as a covered employee, his or her spouse, and their dependent children) become qualified beneficiaries due to a qualifying event, each individual can make a different choice. The plan must allow the covered employee or the covered employee's spouse, however, to elect COBRA coverage on behalf of all of the other qualified beneficiaries for the same qualifying event. A parent or legal guardian of a qualified beneficiary must also be allowed to elect on behalf of a minor child.

Right to revoke a waiver of COBRA coverage

If a qualified beneficiary waives COBRA coverage during the election period, he or she must be permitted to later revoke the waiver and elect COBRA coverage, as long as the revocation is done before the end of the election period. If a waiver is later revoked, however, the plan is permitted to begin COBRA coverage on the date the waiver was revoked.