Court Order and COBRA

Human Resources Manager

I have received a court order that one of our EEs needs to provide insurance coverage for his two children. The sticky wicket is that the EE recently went out on strike, and so is now a COBRA qualifier. I have found information about adding dependents after a marriage, birth, or adoption, but what about court order? And if added, do these children become qualified dependents?

Don D

Hope this helps: I just bounced your question over to the insurance broker who services our accounts. She is a professional par excellance. Here's her answer and I've posted her credentials below her answer to credit her: "The court order does not make the children qualified beneficiaries under COBRA. With that said, if the employee on strike had the group health plan for himself while an active employee, and if he elects COBRA, he then has the same rights as active employees under the plan. If he adds the children within the time frame (usually 31 days from the date of the court order), then he can cover them. In this illustration, only the on-strike employee is the qualified beneficiary."

Kim A. Greene, CEBS, RHU
Ross & Yerger Insurance, Inc
[email]Kgreene@rossandyerger.com[/email]