How to get cobra health insurance

Learn about your temporary health insurance options while between jobs and medical plans.

COBRA is a federal law. Not a company. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA, is a law that gives workers and their families the right to keep their employer’s group health plan after that insurance would end due to job loss or changes in the immediate family.

Learn more about COBRA and how it works.

The purpose of the COBRA Insurance website is to help workers with their continuing health insurance options.

Learn more about when you should continue your health coverage with COBRA or if an affordable temporary medical plan is a better choice.

When To Choose COBRA or An Alternative

If I leave my current employer my insurance coverage will remain until May 31st. I would sign up for COBRA coverage as of June 1st to not have any gaps in coverage. How would I go about getting COBRA insurance?

The term “COBRA insurance” refers to the same workplace health insurance you had through an employer.

To “sign up for COBRA” means you will enroll back into your former plan by the employer’s human resources department or their third-party administrator.

As COBRA is the same employer-based health plan, you work with the previous employer or their designated third-party administrator to enroll in your plan. 

Step 1

Read the COBRA enrollment notification sent to you by the human resources department or the employer’s third-party administrator that explains the coverage and how to enroll back into your health plan.

Step 2

Enroll in COBRA by completing your enrollment online or sign up by paper application and mail it back to the employer.

Please note: COBRA is a federal law. Not an insurance company or a particular plan.

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Expect the COBRA premium to cost the same as major medical insurance, also known as Obamacare, which averages $400 – $700/month, per individual. You can calculate your monthly cost based on your your previous paycheck contributions and the amount the employer had subsidized. 

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COBRA Eligibility

Applying for COBRA continuation of previous health benefits begins with the employer who sponsored the insurance to notify you. The employer has 30 days to notify the group health plan of the qualifying event. After that, the employer has 14 days to notify you of your COBRA right to keep your work health insurance. In total, the employer has within 45 days to send the COBRA election notice to continue your health plan.

Once you receive your COBRA enrollment forms from your previous employer, you have 60 days to send back the election form. If you have questions regarding the application, you’ll want to reach out to the employer’s human resources department and ask for the COBRA Administrator.

Your COBRA coverage is retroactive to the date of your job loss (or when the former insurance would have ended). As long as you submit the enrollment papers and premium payments, there will not be a lapse or gap in your coverage. These legal rights are made possible by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, otherwise known as COBRA.