Monday on the COBRA Part II Zoom Meeting, we told you that if you were on Self-pay and applied for the COBRA subsidy, you would still be locked into the 12 months beginning when you first started on Self-pay. For example… You started Self-pay in Nov 2020. You were on Self-pay from Nov 2020 thru Mar 2021 (5 months). You go onto COBRA subsidy from Apr thru Sept 2021 (6 months). We told you that you must go back on Self-pay and in this example, you only have 1 month left (Oct 2021) and you would be done with any coverage from the Trust Fund at that point. Well, we have good news for those who want to continue on COBRA for a total of 18 months….
HERE IS THE UPDATE: you may stay in COBRA (paying the COBRA rate) after the COBRA subsidy period ends in Sept 2021 and you may have the 18 months beginning from when you first enrolled in Self-pay. Using the above example: You paid self-pay from Nov 2020 thru Mar 2021 (5 months). You enrolled in COBRA subsidy from Apr thru Sept 2021 (6 months). Instead of going back to Self-pay in Oct 2021, you may enroll in COBRA from Oct 2021 thru potentially Apr 2022 (7 months). This gives you a total of 18 months from when you first enrolled in Self-pay.
Please email mbruhn@5.unitehere.org if you need more clarity on the above.