Q. An employee is retiring July 1, 2016. He becomes eligible for Medicare August 1, 2016. What is the length of COBRA for the employee and his spouse?
A.- Both the employee and spouse have an 18 month COBRA event. In some situations, an employee’s Medicare entitlement may allow a covered spouse to have a longer COBRA period. A spouse or dependent may be entitled to COBRA for up to 36 months from the date of the employee’s Medicare entitlement, if the qualifying event occurs no more than 18 months after the employee’s Medicare entitlement. In the situation above, the person is retiring before becoming entitled to Medicare. Therefore, the special Medicare 36 month rule does not apply.