Q.- We have an employee who became eligible for Medicare 11/1/2021 but stayed on our health plan. He just retired from our company and will lose our health coverage 2/28/2022. His wife will also lose coverage. What is the maximum COBRA period for our employee and his wife?
A.- The employee will be experiencing a termination of employment which allows for a maximum of 18 months of COBRA from the date of his qualifying event (2/28/2022). His wife will have a different maximum COBRA period.
Since the employee became entitled to Medicare last fall which is before the date of his qualifying event, and since his qualifying event is within 18 months of his Medicare entitlement, his wife will be entitled to up to 36 months of COBRA from the date of Medicare entitlement (36 months from 11/1/2021).