Continuing COBRA Coverage
To continue coverage, you or your dependents must notify the Benefits Section of Human Resources within 60 days if you become divorced or separated, or if your dependent children no longer qualify as dependents under the terms of the Boston University Health Plan.
Your department is responsible for notifying Human Resources if you die, terminate your employment, have a change in employment status, or become entitled to Medicare. The Benefits Section of Human Resources will then notify you or your covered dependents about the opportunity to elect to continue health plan coverage.
You and your dependents will then have 60 days from the date of notification by the Benefits Section of Human Resources that coverage will terminate (because of one of the events described above) to decide whether or not to elect to continue coverage. If you or your dependents do not elect to continue coverage within that time period, you will not be able to continue coverage in the Boston University Health Plan. You and your covered dependents each have a separate individual election to continue coverage or not (but either you or your spouse can elect continued coverage on behalf of your dependent children).
If you or your dependents elect to continue coverage, Boston University is required to give you coverage that, as of the time coverage is being provided, is identical to the coverage provided by the health plan for similarly situated employees or family members.
The law requires that you or your dependents be afforded the opportunity to maintain continuation coverage for 36 months, unless you lose coverage because of a termination of employment or a reduction in work hours. For a termination or hours reduction, the required continuation coverage period is 18 months.
If you or your dependents elect continuation coverage, you will be billed on a monthly basis by the Benefits Section of Human Resources. You will be billed for the full cost representing both your contributions and the University’s, plus an additional 2% of that cost to help cover the cost of administering the coverage.
There will be a 45-day period from the date you and/or your covered dependents elect to continue coverage for the initial payment. Under federal law, once you elect continuation coverage, Boston University cannot require a payment until the 45-day period expires. Except for the initial 45-day period, your payments are due by the monthly due date; failure to pay by the deadline will result in cancellation of continuation coverage (without any right to reinstate coverage by making back payments).
If the cost of coverage changes, the cost of continued coverage to you or your dependents will change as well. Also, if the coverage options on the forms and conditions of any coverage option change for active employees and their dependents, the change(s) will also apply to continuation coverage. You will be notified of any such change.