When receiving your health insurance through an employer, you must know as much as you possibly can about COBRA. COBRA - Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act - provides a vital bridge between group health insurance plans for qualified workers, their dependent children and their spouses when their health insurance might be cut off.
The ten things that you should know about COBRA are:
1) Under COBRA, you have to pay 100 percent of your health insurance premium and up to 2 percent administrative fee.
2) If it drops group health insurance coverage completely or goes out of business, your former employer can cancel your COBRA coverage.
3) You might receive 29 months of COBRA coverage if you are eligible for Social Security disability benefits.
4) During "open enrollment' you will have the same health insurance rights as your former employer's active employees.
5) COBRA grievances are under jurisdiction of the United States Department of Labor because COBRA is a federal law.
6) 36 months of COBRA coverage for your dependents are available during certain "qualifying events'.
7) Your coverage is retroactive to the date you lost your employer-sponsored plan, even if you enroll in COBRA on the last day that you are eligible.
8) Under the HIPPA law, COBRA can be used to protect your health insurance rights
9) You will lose your COBRA benefits if you move outside your COBRA health plan's coverage area.
10) A lot of states have their own laws that will grant broader rights in determining COBRA eligibility.
Those are the most crucial things that you will need to know about COBRA. If you want to know more, contact your insurance company. Keep in mind that when you are under COBRA, you know all the rules and specifics.
