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Changes in Texas Family Health Insurance Status Information

2. If you recently had a change in family status (for example, because you graduated from school and are no longer dependent on your parents) that caused you to lose coverage under a spouse or parent's job-based health plan, and...
...the employer providing that health plan had at least 20 workers:

COBRA can also help if you have had a change in family status. For young adults, loss of coverage often follows graduation or the age at which they can no longer be claimed as a dependent on their parents' health insurance policy. Divorce, legal separation and widowhood also cause people to lose dependent status. If you are in one of these situations, COBRA allows you to continue coverage for up to 36 months. Again, you'll have to act quickly. You have 60 days to notify the health plan of your loss of dependent status, then another 60 days to elect COBRA. And you'll have to pay the full premium, which can be expensive.

The employer had fewer than 20 workers:

Under Texas law, you may have a right to pay for continuation coverage for 36 months. The human resources or personnel department of your former employer is required to tell you about your COBRA and state continuation rights.

TO LEARN MORE about your COBRA rights to continue coverage, check out the U.S. Department of Labor's "Frequently Asked Questions about COBRA Continuation Coverage" on the agency's Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.html or call toll-free 1.866.275.7922 for a referral to the best place to answer your questions.

TO LEARN MORE about your state continuation rights, call the Texas Department of Insurance at 1.800.252.3439 or visit www.tdi.state.tx.us.