Dropping Spouse on COBRA coverage?

August 18, 2008 1:41 PM

COBRA (health) question: If I currently have health coverage through my employer for Employee(me) and Spouse, can I COBRA for Single only or do I have to keep it at Employee/Spouse?

Checked with HR and the ONE person that can answer is on vaca! ugh!

posted by mmangano to health & fitness (4 comments total)

Yes. You can elect to pick up COBRA for one person only or you could pick up yours and he could pick up his separately. The most important thing is to make your decision on it within the appropriate timeframe.
posted by slavlin at 1:57 PM on August 18, 2008

Yes, you can do either, but, once you have declared as single, you prolly can not go back and add the spouse.
posted by hworth at 2:37 PM on August 18, 2008

You can have it without your spouse, but your spouse cannot have it without you.
posted by troybob at 5:02 PM on August 18, 2008

You can have it without your spouse, but your spouse cannot have it without you.

I'm almost positive this is incorrect. If your spouse (or children) is currently covered under your job's health insurance, then each of you have the right under COBRA to make an independent election about whether to retain coverage after you leave your job. So you could keep coverage and drop her, or she could keep coverage even if you dropped yours. See the very last question on this COBRA FAQ from the Department of Labor:

Spouses and dependent children covered under your health plan have an independent right to elect COBRA coverage upon your termination or reduction in hours. If, for instance, you have a family member with an illness at the time you are laid off, that person alone can elect coverage.

What is a bit unclear is how much money you would save by dropping your spouse. The ceiling on the cost to you is 102 percent of the TOTAL premium for similarly-situated employees. It's not uncommon for employers to subsidize the coverage for their employees (that is, single coverage) at a higher rate than they do for each additional person--for example, paying 75% of the premium for single coverage but only 50% of the premium for additional family members. This is often somewhat hidden from the point of view of the worker, since the amount your employer is contributing to your health insurance premium (and that of your spouse) isn't necessarily included on your paystub anywhere. Make sure you know how much COBRA specifically would cost for a single versus a family (or employee + 1) policy before you decide about dropping your spouse.
posted by iminurmefi at 9:29 AM on August 19, 2008