Cobra

System · April 2003

An employee that is over 65 goes out on a disability than decides to retire when out on disability. Would he be eligible for COBRA benefits and could there be an extension of the 18 months due to his disability.

crawfod · April 2003

I suggest you research the COBRA rules as they relate to Medicare. First of all it is rare for an eligible Medicare person to WANT to pay the premiums that COBRA and you provide. Secondly, COBRA does not typically cover Medicare eligible persons anyway, so you would be under no obligation to cover this person. Also, it was my impression that disability related extensions (as proven by Social Security Administration review) only applied to people who become disabled AFTER they were already on COBRA, not before. Basically, COBRA is a complicated animal, and if you have legal assistance available, that's where I would turn.

NaeNae55 · April 2003

It is my understanding that if a person has regular coverage and Medicare coverage when they become COBRA eligible, then they continue to be eligible for COBRA and Medicare. If they are on COBRA and then become eligible for Medicare, they lose their COBRA eligibility. Essentially, COBRA offers the employee (or ex-employee) the ability to keep the kind of coverage they had when employed.

For COBRA purposes, for someone to be considered disabled they must have had that designation from the Social Security Administration. Such a designation must be made within 60 days of the employee electing COBRA coverage. I have never heard anything about what happens if you become disabled before you make the election, but 2 points come to mind. Whatever reason you have for terminating your employment, unless it is for gross misconduct, you are eligible for COBRA (I would assume that includes becoming disabled). The other point is that it takes quite some time for the Social Security Administration to designate someone as disabled, so it is unlikely that the person has met that qualification before they elect COBRA.

Finally, I think this is all moot. Few retirees will elect COBRA as the cost is generally prohibative. x:-)

Good luck!

Cobra

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