By PAT GOUDEY O’BRIEN

Losing a job often means losing employer-supported group health insurance. If no other job is waiting in the wings, workers who want to avoid a break in their coverage have a limited time after employment ends to access continuing coverage with their insurance carrier through a program called COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act).

The option was approved by Congress in 1986 to provide for temporary continuation of group-rate health coverage for workers who leave a job or are laid off.

Finding out what is available, who is eligible and how to access coverage can be daunting for many. However, by law employers who provide group health insurance to their employees must deliver information about COBRA when terminating employment.

“When an employee is leaving a job, an employer is obligated to send that person information about the right to continuance of group coverage and how to go about it,” said Tracy Wells of the Consumer Assistance office of the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration.

However, some employees of small businesses – even though they had coverage while on the job – may not be eligible for COBRA. The law stipulates that coverage at group rates will be available to those leaving companies that have at least 20 full-time-equivalent employees, and that health insurance coverage must be ongoing to remaining employees at the time of the individual’s termination. Anyone unsure of their status should contact their company’s health insurance carrier or the state Health Care Administration office for clarification of eligibility.

Wells said those leaving a qualified job through voluntary resignation or because they were laid off for any reason other than gross misconduct are typically eligible for COBRA, which continues coverage at group rates for a specified period.

Through COBRA, however, the individual is responsible for paying the full premium, whereas when coverage is obtained through an employer, part of the cost of a policy is often paid as an employment benefit. The primary benefit of COBRA, then, is temporary access to coverage at group rates, which are typically lower than individual policy premiums.

If an employee with a family policy is laid off, that person may be eligible to access COBRA for dependents as well, provided the full premium is paid by the individual, Wells said. Surviving family members of a deceased individual who had group coverage also may have some access and should investigate the availability of COBRA.

When an employee is terminated, dies or leaves a company, employers must inform health-plan administrators within 30 days. The health-plan administrator has two weeks to send information to those eligible for continued coverage, and the employee or dependents have an additional 60 days to decide whether to access coverage through COBRA.

Once the decision to access COBRA has been made, the qualifying individual has 45 additional days to pay the first premium. The provisions offer each qualifying dependent the right to access COBRA, and a qualifying spouse may elect COBRA for dependent children.

For some employees who have lost jobs during the current recession, additional assistance may be available to help with premiums through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Wells said. Premium subsidies of 35 percent to 65 percent are available for some COBRA plans through either federal programs or Vermont state programs, she said.

Employees who have lost their jobs since September 1, 2008, should speak to their employers or to their health insurance carrier to determine if subsidies apply and whether state or federal assistance is available. There are time limits for application, so early inquiries are recommended, she said.

The federal government has posted information on the Department of Labor’s Web site at www.dol.gov. It also has provided a telephone number to call for guidance at 1.866.444.3272. To reach the Vermont state office of Health Care Administration’s help line, call 1.800.631.7788.