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COBRA: Eligibility
For Spouse
If you are the spouse of an employee covered by a state of Ohio group health plan, you have the right to choose continuation coverage for yourself for up to 18 months* if you lose group health coverage for any of the following reasons:
• Death of employee, or
• Divorce or legal separation from employee.
For Dependents
If you are a dependent child of an employee covered by a state of Ohio group health plan, you have the right to choose continuation coverage for yourself for up to 18 months* if you lose group health coverage for any of the following reasons:
• Death of employee,
• Parents’ divorce or legal separation, or
• Dependent child losing eligibility (such as reaching a limiting age, getting married, dropping out of college, etc.).
*COBRA also provides for further extensions of coverage, up to 36 months, under certain circumstances. For example, an individual who is determined by the Social Security Administration to be disabled while on COBRA may be eligible for an additional 11 months of coverage (for a total of 29 months). When a “secondary event,” such as the death of an employee, occurs while the individual is on COBRA, the 18-month original coverage period may be extended to 36 months for survivors who are on the plan. All COBRA extension requests and questions should be directed to Benefits Administration Services through HCM Customer Service at 614-466-8857, or toll-free at 1-800-409-1205.
Important Employee, Spouse and Dependent Notifications Required
Under the federal law, the employee, spouse or other family member has the responsibility to notify the state of Ohio of a divorce, a legal separation or a child losing dependent status under the group health plan. This notice must be made within 60 days of the event or the date coverage ends in order to be eligible for COBRA continuation.
If this notification is not completed within the required 60-day notification period, rights to continuation coverage will be forfeited.
Notification should be made by contacting your agency's payroll/personnel officer. You may also request additional information from Benefits Administration Services by calling HCM Customer Service at 1-800-409-1205.
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