Q.- We are a small employer with under 10 employees and we were purchased by a large company. Since we will now be subject to COBRA with over 20 employees, do we have to go back to everyone who terminated employment for the past few years and give them a COBRA election?
A.- No. Your plan must be subject to COBRA at the time of the qualifying event for the person to have a right to COBRA continuation coverage. If your plan did not have to follow the COBRA rules when the people terminated, they do not have to be offered a COBRA election at a later date.
