An employee’s health insurance coverage may be terminated for a variety of reasons, but to be eligible for COBRA continuing coverage, a person must meet certain conditions.
COBRA established rules, referred to as qualifying events. When a qualifying event occurs, a person may be eligible for COBRA benefits.
The following are examples of qualifying events:
Qualifying events for the covered employee’s spouse or dependent child when a person is fired (save for egregious misbehavior) when an employer reduces a person’s working hours
when a person is legally divorced or separated from a covered employee when the covered employee becomes Medicare-eligible, or when the covered employee dies
A person must also be a qualified beneficiary, which means that on the day before a qualifying occurrence, they must be employed and insured by their group insurance plan.
A family member, such as a spouse, a previous spouse, or a dependent child, can also be a beneficiary.