The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) enables employees and their dependents to continue to be covered, at the employee’s expense, under an employer’s health plan if job loss or other changed circumstances would otherwise result in the loss of coverage.
This benefit, known as "continuation coverage," comes into play if, for example: an employee divorces a spouse covered under the plan; an employee quits or is fired or laid off; or dependent children are no longer covered by the plan, generally because they attain the age of 19 or are no longer full-time students.
While the concept behind COBRA appears simple, COBRA’s administrative,
record-keeping, and notice requirements continue to be problematic for employers
more than 20 years after they were first implemented. That’s due, to the fact
that many employers mistakenly think that the only administrative procedures
they need to adopt are those relating to mailing out COBRA notices. And, in
part, because the government has continued to pile on more and more rules and
regulations since COBRA was first enacted
