If you are covered under your employer's group health insurance plan, you are eligible to receive temporary COBRA continuation coverage after leaving the company. How long the coverage extends depends on what the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) refers to as a qualifying event. Generally, COBRA beneficiaries qualify for up to 18 months of coverage due to employment termination (voluntary or involuntary) or reduction of work hours.

Under certain conditions, however, certain qualifying events can permit an individual to receive benefits for up to 36 months. For example, a person who becomes disabled within the first 60 days of COBRA continuation coverage may qualify for additional time. Employers also may extend an individual's COBRA coverage beyond what is required by law. However, coverage can be cut short for several reasons, including late premium payments by the beneficiary or an employer's discontinuation of the group healthcare plan.

In some cases, individuals can convert group health coverage to an individual policy. If this option is available under the plan, individuals have 180 days to enroll in a conversion healthcare plan before COBRA coverage ends.

For additional information, see the COBRA section at Families USA, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to health care coverage issues.