Elections and payments run on their own clocks, and each one is triggered by a different date. Getting the trigger right is most of this unit.
The 60-day election period
Plans must give each qualified beneficiary at least 60 days to elect, running from the later of the date the election notice is provided or the date coverage would otherwise be lost due to the qualifying event. Each qualified beneficiary holds an independent election right.
Running the clock from the date of the qualifying event is the most common error. It does not run from the employer's notice to the plan either, and there is no first-of-the-following-month convention.
Payment clocks: 45 then 30
- No payment is due at the time of election. The plan must allow at least 45 days after the election date — measured from the date the election form is mailed if sent first class — to make the initial premium payment. It runs from the election, not from the notice, and not from the qualifying event.
- For every premium after the initial payment, the plan must allow a minimum 30-day grace period.
Keep the four clocks apart: 60 days to elect, 45 days for the first premium after election, 30 days grace for each later premium, 14 days for the plan's election notice.
A second qualifying event
A second qualifying event during the initial 18-month period may extend coverage by up to 18 additional months, subject to a 36-month overall maximum. That is not the disability extension, which adds 11 months to a 29-month total. Coverage does not terminate for having two events, and no new uncapped 18-month period starts.
The judgment the keyed answers reward
Correct every error in front of you, not just the convenient one, and do not hand a plan administrator's duties to the insurer.
When a coordinator says a terminated employee forfeited COBRA by not paying with his election form, and that a spouse-reported divorce triggers the employer's 30-day notice duty, both statements are wrong. Payment is not due at election and at least 45 days after election must be allowed; divorce is a beneficiary-reported event with a plan deadline of at least 60 days from the latest of the event, loss of coverage, or notice of the obligation — not an employer 30-day duty. Correcting only the payment point ratifies the second error, and documenting the forfeiture ratifies an improper one.