If you are employed by a small employer in Pennsylvania and you lose your job, do you automatically lose your employer provided health  insurance?  Up until 2009, the answer to this question was yes you would lose your health insurance. However, in 2009 the Pennsylvania legislature passed legislation known as the mini-COBRA law. This law requires that small employers that have 2 to 19 employees offer extended health insurance coverage for a limited period of time to most separated employees at the expense of the separated employee.  The law is called mini-COBRA because there already existed a Federal law called COBRA that covered employers who had 20 or more employees.

Whether a separated employee is covered by mINI-COBRA or COBRA, they have the right to have their health insurance coverage extended for a limited period of time but they must pay for such coverage at the same cost that the employer was paying. Before exercising their rights under either of these laws, a separated employee should also look into the coverages they are eligible for under Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare).  Because of the subsidies that are available under the ACA, coverage may be less expensive than under COBRA or mini-COBRA. 

if you have any questions regarding your rights to extended health insurance coverage under any of these laws, please contact our office for a consultation.