Phoenix, Arizona, Health Insurance and COBRA Attorney
There are many laws that may protect your right to health benefits when you voluntarily or involuntarily leave your job or when there are changes in your life. Some of these are:
- The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
- The Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010
- The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act
- The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
- The Mental Health and Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)
There are also state laws that may offer more generous protections for your rights to medical benefits.
At Martin & Bonnett PLLC, our Phoenix health insurance and COBRA lawyers are well versed in all of these laws, and can help you get the benefits you deserve.
Understanding COBRA Benefits
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) gives employees and their families the right to choose to continue their group health insurance benefits for a limited period of time. You may have the right to continue your group health insurance benefits if you lose your job, are terminated, voluntarily leave your job, retire, transition between jobs, or if you lose benefits because of a reduction in hours worked, death, or divorce.
COBRA requires group health plans, with 50 or more employees, to offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary continuation of health insurance coverage in certain circumstances. Some states have their own statutes with more liberal requirements. If you qualify for continued health insurance coverage, you may be required to pay the entire premium for health coverage, up to 102 percent of the cost to the insurance plan.
COBRA requires employers and health plans to provide notice to an employee that may be losing their health benefits. COBRA also explains how employees and their family members may choose to extend their health insurance coverage.
Life events, such as marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, adoption, legal separation, divorce, death, or a dependent child becoming too old for coverage under the plan, may all affect you or your families’ rights to health benefits.
How Does HIPAA Fit In?
HIPAA limits a new employer’s health insurance plan from excluding coverage for preexisting conditions and prohibits discrimination against employees or their family members based upon prior medical conditions, prior claims, or genetic information. Under HIPAA, you may be entitled to add a new spouse or children to your employer’s plan or add yourself to your spouse’s employer’s plan.
COBRA and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) also allow military servicemen and servicewomen to continue coverage for themselves and their family under group health insurance plans.
Contact an Arizona Employment Lawyer
If you have questions about health insurance or COBRA benefits in event of loss of employment, we have answers. Please call (602)240-6900 or toll free 1-800-952-4750. You can also contact us online.
