- 1). Verify your eligibility. Generally, COBRA covers employers with more than 20 ful-time employees for most of the business days during the previous calendar year. Both employees and their beneficiaries may be eligible for coverage.
- 2). Verify that COBRA covers the reason you lost coverage. For employees, you may be covered if your employment was terminated voluntarily or involuntarily for reasons other than for gross misconduct, or if a reduction in the number of hours rendered you ineligible for coverage in your company's group plan. For spouses, you could be covered if your spouse is covered for the reasons set forth above, if your spouse dies, if you divorce or legally separate or if your spouse formerly enrolled in the employer plan becomes entitled to Medicare. Similar provisions apply to children of the employee or spouse.
- 3). Confirm you were enrolled in your employer's health plan. You must have been enrolled in order to qualify for health insurance coverage.
- 4). Contact your employer or their HR department. They should give you a Summary Plan Description that details the process of applying for COBRA benefits specific to your company. If you elect COBRA coverage, you must do so within 60 days of the qualifying event by following the instructions in the Summary Plan Description. If your employer is covered by COBRA, the law requires them to provide you a general notice of your eligibility. If you still have your initial hire paperwork, you may find it there.
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