TxAger said:

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Friend of mine is contemplating resigning and asked what I knew about how Cobra works. Of course I know nada.

Are all companies in Texas required to provide Cobra?

Can they deny it to someone who resigns?

And is Cobra the same exact insurance you had prior to resigning?

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Cobra is the exact insurance but you have to pay 100% of premiums so it will be expensive. Cobra also is only required for companies over a certain size so a small company is not required to offer. Also, I believe there are length of employment minimums and conditions. Every year (usually at the beginning of the year and after open enrollment), if the company offers Cobra, the employee should get a large packet with all the information about what is offered, conditions, etc.

There are also time limits to how long you can stay on Cobra. Usually, 18 months I believe but it can be more if certain conditions are met (to which I have no idea what are the conditions to extend).

One thing about COBRA is you have 60 days from the last day of coverage to elect it and its retro active, so if he resigned on sept 1st and his company gave him insurance until the end of the month, he could wait to the end of November before electing COBRA. He would have to pay back the 2 months he missed but if he finds another job in that time he might just not elect it.

So he could float 2 months without insurance and if something happens that is a major medical expense, he could then elect to enroll in COBRA and he would be covered, if nothing happens you can just go with your new policy and save the money.

permabull said:

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TxAger said:

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Thanks for the reply. That's what he had heard, but I thought I'd check here to make sure there weren't any "gotchas"... or really really really fine print!

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He could also ask HR... they are supposed to keep those requests private.

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HR is suppose to keep everything confidential. However, HR is not for the employee's benefit - it is ENTIRELY to keep the company out of a lawsuit or doing something illegal. Many times talking to HR is the very last thing you should do. I would assume anything said to HR will get around to one's boss and within the company.