Q&A: Can a COBRA Participant Add Family Members During Open Enrollment?

Question:

We have a former employee who has been on COBRA for three months. When his employment ended, his wife and children weren’t covered on our plan, so they were not offered coverage. Now we are going through open enrollment, and he wants to add them to his COBRA plan. ChatGPT says we don’t have to allow this, but I think I remember reading something in the past indicating that we do. What is the correct approach?

Answer:

First, your instincts that you should never trust ChaptGPT are correct! We have tested it on similar compliance questions, and in our experience, it is correct only about half of the time.

Second, your memory is also correct. COBRA participants are allowed to add other family members to their coverage during open enrollment. This is the case even though the family members were not on your plan when the employee ended his employment.

However, keep in mind the following limitations:

• The individuals being added must meet the plan’s regular eligibility requirements (for example, the wife must be a legal spouse, and dependents must be under age 26).
• Their maximum period of COBRA coverage is the same as the employee’s. In your scenario, that means the wife and children can only keep coverage for 15 months (because the employee has already been on COBRA for three months).
• If the employee terminates COBRA before the end of his 18-month eligibility period, then his family members will lose coverage. They will have no independent right to elect COBRA.
• In addition, if the employee were to die, COBRA for his family would end as well. They would not qualify for the extension (coverage of up to 36 months) that would apply if they had been on COBRA from the beginning.

Please reach out if you have additional questions and remember to always double check answers that ChatGPT provides!