ee Rehired on COBRA

HCCADC

Hi,
If an employee who has elected COBRA coverage from us is rehired, does she continue on COBRA until she meets the eligibility requirements of our health plan? The employee quit 1 yr and 3 mos ago and she will still have 3 mos left on COBRA. Our health insurance requirement is that the employee has to work with us for 3 mos before he/she can enroll in the plan.
Thanks for your help!

mushroomHR

I would have the employee continue on COBRA until their insurance goes into effect. If your plan has a pre-existing clause, this employee, by not continuing COBRA, could be affected by pre-ex if there is a gap in coverage of more than 63 days. Of course you could waive the enrollment requirement if your plan would allow that but if you do it for one, you would have to do it for others under these circumstances.

jmcaa

Check your Plan Document. Our states that "If the employee or his/her covered Dependents qualify and elect COBRA continuation and subsequently again become eligible for coverage under the Plan during the designated COBRA continuation period (with no break in coverage), the employee and his/her covered Dependent(s) are NOT required to satisfy the Waiting Period to re-qualify as a new Covered Person."

HCCADC

Thank you! I couldn't find anything in our Plan Document. Could you tell me what section you found it in yours, I want to make sure I didn't overlook anything. Have a good day!

jmcaa

HCCADC,
I found it in the "Eligibility for Coverage" section between the "Right to Continue Benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act..." and "Right to Continue Benefits under Federal Law." Our section was titled "Reinstatement of Coverage During COBRA Continuation."

Plan Documents are different, so you should probably start in the "eligibility" section and if you don't find it there check the "COBRA" section.