A dependent child loses eligibility under a parent's employer group plan because the child has exceeded the plan's age limit. Under COBRA, the child is generally entitled to continuation coverage for up to:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
COBRA provides two continuation durations. The general event, termination of employment or reduction in hours, allows 18 months. Certain second qualifying events extend coverage, and dependents who lose coverage because they age out of the plan, reaching the plan's maximum dependent age, are entitled to up to 36 months of continuation coverage. The 36-month figure is the specific tested number for dependents aging out of group coverage. The 36-month period is reserved for the dependent-focused qualifying events: aging out of dependent coverage, divorce, death, or the covered employee's Medicare entitlement. The longer window recognizes that dependents who lose coverage through family status changes face a more severe disruption and need a longer bridge.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) 18 months applies to the employee's own loss of coverage from termination or reduced hours, not to a dependent aging out. 18 months is the standard COBRA period for the covered employee's termination or reduced hours, not for a dependent's loss of eligibility at the plan age limit.
- C) 6 months is not a standard COBRA continuation duration. Six months is not a recognized COBRA continuation period under the federal statute. Federal COBRA periods are limited to the durations the statute specifies, and six months is not among them.
- D) 12 months is not the COBRA duration for aging-out dependents; it is 36 months. Twelve months is not a COBRA period; dependent loss-of-coverage qualifying events carry a 36-month continuation entitlement.
Memory hook
Aging out of the plan = 36 months of COBRA runway for the departing dependent.