Cobra

[BKM]

The company that I worked for over 13 years at, had shut its doors back in September 30, 2009.

Our medical was paid to November 30, 2009 and then the company was supposed to pay for Cobra for the month of December.

They never paid for the Cobra and a doctors bill has come back to me from the month of December.

I called the benefits department of our Union and they told me that the company pulled out at the last minute. I think she said they were notified on December 21, 2009 that the company was not paying for our Cobra. I asked them why wasn't anyone notified about Cobra. She stated that they were working on the Cobra notices and that we should have them in a few days, this was on January 06, 2010.

I looked on the web-site for Cobra and it states that the employer must notify the insurance company within 30 days of the employees end of employment and that the insurance company has 14 days from the day they were notified to contact the employee about Cobra.

The employer did notify the insurance company within 30 days but the insurance company has still not notified us about Cobra. Someone told me that the insurance company might have to supply us with Cobra for an X amount of time because they did not properly notify us within a specific time frame.

Can anyone confirm this or give me some information on this?

Thanks

[BKM]

I'll add from Cobras web-site.

When you are no longer eligible for health coverage, your employer has to provide you with a specific notice regarding your rights to COBRA continuation benefits.

Employers must notify their plan administrators within 30 days after an employee's termination or after a reduction in hours that causes an employee to lose health benefits.

The plan administrator must provide notice to individual employees of their right to elect COBRA coverage within 14 days after the administrator has received notice from the employer.

You must respond to this notice and elect COBRA coverage by the 60th day after the written notice is sent or the day health care coverage ceased, whichever is later. Otherwise, you will lose all rights to COBRA benefits.