Medicare and COBRA

Ethel · July 2003

If an employee works past retirement age and is covered by group insurance as primary and also medicare (secondary), when employee ceases employment, is that employee eligible for COBRA?

Pearce · July 2003

Yes

Ethel · July 2003

Thanks, could you point me to where I can get some detail on that.

cowboy · July 2003

A similar question. EE passes away and spouse is on our health plan. We offered COBRA which she accepted. She just turned 65 and has Medicare. Can we cancel COBRA since she has Medicare? If not, can Medicare be primary?

sailorsam · July 2003

Yes. The employee is eligible for COBRA continuation. However, upon moving from active employee to retired employee, if they elect COBRA continuation, my understanding is that Medicare would go from secondary to primary and the company health insurance package (COBRA) would go from primary to secondary. And the employee would then be responsible for both the Medicare fee and the company COBRA fee. Also, under the regular qualifying events guidelines, the spouse of an employee or a dependent child of an employee would be eligible for continuation rights if the spouse or parent employee enrolls in Medicare (Part A, Part B, or both). Hope this helps.

Ethel · July 2003

You are right on! Thanks for taking the time to respond. I had to go to our Labor Law firm because I need the info yesterday (isn't that the norm in our line of work) but if not, I could have gotten the very same advice from you for FREE. Thanks.

Medicare and COBRA

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