If you switch employers, you have the right to carry your group health insurance coverage with you to a new job for up to 18 months under the Congressional Budget Reconciliation Act. (COBRA)
If your group employs more than 20 employees throughout the prior year (full- or part-time), you will be offered the Federal Cobra option. If your group employs less than 20 full or part-time employees in the prior year, you will be offered the Mini-Cobra option, which is also called Florida Continuation.
As a COBRA recipient, you will be required to pay 100% of the monthly premium and possibly an administration fee. Health Insurance under COBRA is available if you are in these situations:
- You leave a company and become unemployed or self-employed for up to 18 months.
- You are a widow or widower or child of an employee who dies while working for the same company for three years or more.
- You are the divorced spouse or child of an employee who has left the company he or she was employed at for at least three years.
- You are the child of an employee who left a job and have not yet reached age 23.
NOTE: If you need COBRA benefits, you must fill out the appropriate forms from your employer’s benefits department within 60 days of leaving your job. If you do not act within that period of time, you may be denied coverage.