COBRA
Under a Federal law called the "Consolidated
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act" (COBRA),
you and your eligible covered dependents may continue
your group health and dental benefits under the plan when your
coverage is lost due to a "qualifying event."
You and your spouse and/or dependent children must
apply for coverage under COBRA following the qualifying
event. Then, you must make monthly payments in order
to keep your coverage.
|
Qualifying
Event
|
Who May Purchase Continuation Coverage |
Duration of Continuation Coverage |
|
Your employment terminates |
You, your spouse and your dependent children
who were covered under the Plan when coverage
was lost |
18 months |
|
Your working hours are reduced, i.e., you
become a part-time Employee |
You, your spouse and your dependent children
who were covered under the Plan when your
status changed |
18 months |
|
You experience a termination or reduction
in hours while you are disabled (as determined
by the Social Security Administration) |
You, your spouse and your dependent children |
29 months (18 months plus an additional 11
months) |
|
You divorce, or your marriage is annulled |
Your spouse and your dependent children who
were covered under the Plan at the time of
divorce, marriage or annulment |
36 months |
|
Your dependent child no longer qualifies
as a dependent |
Your dependent child |
36 months |
|
You die |
Your spouse and your dependent children who
were covered under the Plan at the time of
your death |
36 months |
Health plan COBRA information
What you need to do
If you are covered by a UGA health or dental plan and wish to continue your coverage, you must submit a COBRA form to
Employee Benefits within 60 days of the qualifying event. You will be responsible for making premium payments for your coverage, so you should contact Employee
Benefits regarding the amount of your premium payments and when your first and subsequent payments
will be due.
Coverage period
Health and dental plan members may continue your coverage and/or
the coverage for your dependents for a maximum of
18 months (except as noted in the above chart under
"duration of continuation coverage").
If a dependent has a second qualifying event while
continuing his coverage as a result of your termination
or change in employment, then the maximum period
is measured from the first qualifying event that
applied to the dependent.
Cost of coverage
The amount of self-payment to be paid by the covered
health or dental plan individual shall be 102% of the applicable
premium (total cost of plan coverage for a participant),
in accordance with procedures permitted by applicable
law. Coverage will not be provided if self-payments
are not made, in full, when due. No claims will
be paid for any medical expenses incurred by a person
during any period for which self-payments have not
been made. Reimbursements for covered expenses incurred
will only be made when all required self-payments
have been made. View
current COBRA rates.
Address changes after enrolling in COBRA
In order to protect your family's rights; you should
keep the University informed of any changes in addresses
of family members. UGA will not be responsible for
loss of coverage if the COBRA-covered individual
provides incorrect or outdated address information.
Be sure to contact the Office of Employee Benefits
if you are moving out of the area, in the event
you need to make changes to your coverage.
June 1, 2008
