Cleveland Insurance.com

Friday, February 26, 2010

Mini-COBRA Benefits Extended
House Bill 300 provides three additional months of Ohio continuation coverage
COLUMBUS — Ohioans who lost their jobs and were in danger of losing their health insurance received some relief on Thursday, said Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson. Governor Ted Strickland signed House Bill 300 (H.B. 300) into law, providing temporary extensions of Ohio continuation (mini-COBRA) coverage from twelve months to fifteen months to permit Ohioans who lose their jobs to take full advantage of the federal subsidies available to help pay for the cost of mini-COBRA, or state continuation, coverage.
“In these challenging economic times, the last thing that Ohioans want to be worrying about is being able to keep their health insurance,” said Director Hudson. “The mini-COBRA changes will temporarily allow those who lose their job to maintain their health insurance for a little while longer.”
Effective immediately, all small employer-sponsored group insurance policies issued, delivered or renewed on or after February 25, 2010, increase continuation coverage from 12 to 15 months. The extension is temporary and lasts only as long as newly terminated employees are eligible for federal premium subsidies for mini-COBRA coverage. When those federal subsidies are no longer available to newly terminated employees, the temporary law will end, and the Ohio law will return to 12 months of continuation coverage.
H.B. 300 affects only the duration of continuation coverage provided by Ohio insurance law. All other provisions of these statutes remain in effect.
The Department is issuing a bulletin offering guidance to insurance companies concerning this change to the Ohio continuation law. That bulletin, as well as the complete version of H.B. 300, can be found on the Ohio Department of Insurance web site, www.insurance.ohio.gov . Ohioans with questions about the new law can call the Department’s consumer hotline at 1-800-686-1526.
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Ohio Department of Insurance Contacts:

Robert Denhard, Public Information Officer
(614) 644-3366

Jarrett Dunbar, Public Information Officer
(614) 644-2475