COBRA deadline calculator

Work out your COBRA dates

Deadlines here are the federal minimums for employers with 20 or more employees. Your plan may give you more time, never less. If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, check your notice; many plans extend it to the next business day, but the law doesn't require it. State continuation laws for smaller employers often have shorter windows.

The COBRA timeline step by step

1. Qualifying event Job loss, reduced hours, divorce, a covered employee's death or Medicare entitlement, or a child aging out of the plan.
2. Employer notifies the plan administrator: 30 days For job loss, reduced hours, death or Medicare entitlement. For divorce or a child aging out, the employee or family must notify the plan within 60 days.
3. Administrator sends the election notice: 14 days When the employer is also the plan administrator, which is common for small companies, the combined deadline is 44 days.
4. You elect coverage: 60 days From the later of the date coverage ended and the date the notice was sent. Each family member can elect separately.
5. First premium: 45 days after electing It covers every month back to the day coverage ended, so it's often two or three months of premiums at once.
6. Monthly premiums: 30-day grace period Each later payment is on time if made within 30 days of its due date.

Worked example

Because coverage is retroactive, some people wait to elect and only do so if they need care in the window. It works, but it's risky: providers may bill you directly while coverage shows as inactive, and missing the deadline by a day means losing COBRA entirely.

What if a deadline is missed?

• You miss the 60-day election window: COBRA is lost for good. You still have 60 days from the loss of coverage to enroll in a marketplace plan through a special enrollment period.
• You miss the first 45-day payment: the plan can treat it as never elected.
• You miss a monthly payment by more than 30 days: coverage can end for good. A payment that's short by a small amount (the lesser of $50 or 10% of the premium) must be treated as full payment unless the plan tells you and gives you time to pay the rest.
• The employer misses its notice deadline: your 60 days don't start until you get the notice, and the employer can face excise taxes and ERISA penalties of up to $110 a day.

How long COBRA lasts

A second qualifying event during an 18-month period, such as a divorce, can extend a spouse's or child's coverage to 36 months in total. To get the disability or second-event extension, the family has to notify the plan within 60 days, so put that date in your calendar too.

Your own deadlines to notify the plan

Most deadlines run against the employer and plan, but some run against you. Missing them can cost you coverage you'd otherwise be entitled to.

• Divorce, legal separation or a child aging out: tell the plan administrator within 60 days of the event, or the later date coverage would be lost.
• Social Security disability determination: tell the plan within 60 days of the determination and before the 18-month period ends to get 29 months.
• Second qualifying event: tell the plan within 60 days to extend to 36 months.
• Address changes: keep the plan's records current so notices reach you; the 60-day clock can start when a notice is sent.

Check your plan's summary plan description for its notice procedures. Plans can require notices in writing to a specific address, and a phone call may not count. If you're not sure who the plan administrator is, ask HR; for many small companies it's the company itself or a COBRA vendor it hired.

A checklist for the person leaving

1. Confirm the date coverage ends Many plans run through the end of the month you leave; some end on your last day. Ask HR in writing.
2. Price a marketplace plan Enter your expected income for the year on HealthCare.gov or your state exchange. If you'll earn less after leaving, the premium tax credit may be large.
3. Compare with COBRA COBRA keeps your doctors, deductible progress and network. The COBRA cost calculator shows the monthly price.
4. Put both deadlines in your calendar The 60-day marketplace special enrollment window and the COBRA election deadline from this calculator.
5. Keep copies of everything The election notice, your election form and proof of payment. Send elections and payments in a way you can track, such as certified mail or the administrator's online portal, and note the date you sent each one. If a dispute comes up later, the dates are what matter.

For employers: staying on the right side of COBRA

Most COBRA mistakes come from small employers who run the plan themselves and don't realize they owe notices. If you have 20 or more employees, give every new plan member a general notice within 90 days of enrollment, and send an election notice within 44 days of each qualifying event. Under 20 employees, federal COBRA doesn't apply, but most states have their own continuation laws.

Many companies use a COBRA administrator to send notices and collect premiums. It usually costs a few dollars per employee per month and moves the deadline risk off your desk. Our guide to COBRA for small employers covers the rules, and the COBRA cost calculator shows what a departing employee will pay.

If you're reviewing the company plan

COBRA questions often come up while a company is reviewing its plan. Diamond is a group plan, so the same COBRA rules apply to it once you have 20 or more employees, and departing employees continue on the same coverage.