Q.- An employee’s son is losing coverage under our health plan because he just got married. Do we issue him a COBRA notice?
A.- There are some issues with your question. The Affordable Care Act requires benefit plans that provide coverage for dependents to cover adult children to age 26, regardless of whether the adult child is married or not. Marriage is not an event which would typically cause a child to lose coverage under an employer’s health plan.
If the child is dropping coverage on her own due to marriage, that would not be a COBRA qualifying event. If the employer is saying marriage makes the child ineligible for coverage because he is no longer considered a dependent, then the COBRA event would be “loss of dependent status.” The employer may wish to consult with their legal counsel to determine if the marriage is an event which would allow the employer to discontinue eligibility under their group health plan.
