Keeping Health Insurance After a Job Ends (COBRA)

When a construction job ends or you are laid off, employer health insurance usually ends too. A federal law called COBRA lets many workers keep the same group plan for a time, if they pay the full cost. Deadlines are short, so act quickly.

• All Workers
• Union Members
• Families

Who is covered

• COBRA applies to group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees. Many states have "mini-COBRA" laws for smaller employers.
• It covers workers who lose coverage because of a qualifying event, such as job loss (other than gross misconduct) or reduced hours, and their spouses and dependent children.
• Other events, like divorce, death of the worker or a child aging out, can also qualify family members.
• Many union health plans have their own rules, including hour banks that can carry coverage for a time. Ask your fund office. See How Unions Work.

Timeline

1. The employer notifies the plan administrator, generally within 30 days of the qualifying event.
2. The plan sends you an election notice, typically within 14 days after it learns of the event (45 days total in some cases).
3. You have at least 60 days from the notice (or from losing coverage, if later) to elect COBRA.
4. You have 45 days after electing to make the first payment. Later payments have a grace period of at least 30 days.
5. Coverage is typically retroactive to the date you lost coverage, if you elect and pay.

Cost and duration

• You pay the full premium, both your share and the employer's, plus up to 2 percent for administration (up to 102 percent). It is often expensive.
• Coverage generally lasts 18 months for job loss or reduced hours, and up to 36 months for certain other events. Extensions are possible in special cases.

Other options

• Losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period of about 60 days on the health insurance marketplace; a marketplace plan may cost less, with subsidies for some people
• Check eligibility for Medicaid or your state's program, and for coverage through a spouse's plan
• If you choose COBRA, you can generally drop it later, but you may lose marketplace special enrollment if you stop paying
• Compare deductibles, networks and total cost. See Health Insurance for Construction Workers

Last updated: October 8, 2026