COBRA Expiration: Understanding Your Healthcare Options After Job Loss

When your COBRA coverage comes to an end, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act can help you maintain coverage. Be sure to act quickly, as your right to continued coverage expires within a couple of months of COBRA termination.

COBRA

• COBRA is an acronym for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, a federal law that mandates continued group insurance coverage for workers after their employment terminates. Under COBRA, the worker and her family are entitled to keep their insurance, at their own expense, for at least 18 months.

HIPAA

• HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is another federal law that affects insurance benefits. Under HIPAA, once your COBRA coverage ends, you have the opportunity (within 63 days of termination) to buy a new insurance plan with no pre-existing coverage exclusions, either from your current insurer or by another insurer in your state.

State Rules

• Under HIPAA, each state sets it own rules for offering "portability" coverage to individuals and families after COBRA. Some states require private insurers to offer plans for people transitioning from COBRA, and other states offer one plan for everyone.