Personal Finance & Estate › Medicare, Medi-Cal & long-term care › Health coverage before 65 (employer, ACA, COBRA; HMO/PPO/HDHP)
COBRA & Cal-COBRA continuation coverage
Since 1986· Government program
Law or rule (2026)Set by statute, regulation or the agency; numbers change yearly.
Laws that let you keep a former employer's health plan for a while after leaving, if you pay the full premium yourself.
See it on the Personal Finance & Estate map →How it works
Federal COBRA covers employers with 20 or more workers: usually 18 months after a job loss, and up to 36 months for a spouse or children after a death or divorce. Cal-COBRA covers firms with 2–19 workers and can stretch federal COBRA to 36 months. You have 60 days to elect, and coverage is retroactive. Cost: up to 102% of the full premium (110% under Cal-COBRA), roughly $800 a month single or $2,200 family (2025 averages). Main trap: compare Covered California first.
Why it matters for you
It prevents a gap after a job ends, but at full price, and it does not count as job coverage for delaying Medicare after 65.
Rules, limits and sources (2026)
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, signed in April 1986 and enforced by the Labor Department; Cal-COBRA is in California's Health and Safety and Insurance Codes; KFF premium surveys.
Connections (2)
▸COBRA & Cal-COBRA continuation coverage bridges a job loss in Health coverage before 65 (employer, ACA, COBRA; HMO/PPO/HDHP)Watch out
How they connect
COBRA continues the same employer plan, doctors and deductibles after a job ends, but you pay the full premium plus a fee. It suits mid-treatment or high-claim years; otherwise a marketplace plan with tax credits may cost less. Losing job coverage opens a 60-day marketplace window even if you're offered COBRA, but quitting COBRA later doesn't.
When it applies
Federal COBRA was signed in April 1986, and Cal-COBRA later extended it to small employers; the 2014 ACA marketplaces created the main alternative.
How sure?
ERISA Sec. 601 onward and IRC Sec. 4980B; Labor Department guidance; marketplace special-enrollment rules on loss of coverage.
Watch out for
How many people choose COBRA out of habit when a subsidized marketplace plan would cost less is hard to measure.
▸Medicare enrollment windows & late penalties are not paused by COBRA & Cal-COBRA continuation coverageWatch out
How they connect
COBRA keeps your old job's coverage but does not count as current employment for Medicare. Your eight-month Part B window starts when the job ends, not when COBRA ends. Wait for COBRA to run out and you can face penalties and gaps, since Medicare pays first.
When it applies
Part of Medicare's Part B special-enrollment rules; Cal-COBRA, California's extension for small employers, works the same way.
How sure?
CMS and Medicare.gov state explicitly that COBRA and retiree coverage do not qualify for the special enrollment period.
Watch out for
CMS has occasionally granted relief to people misled about COBRA, but it is rare; do not count on it.