A covered employee under a Massachusetts small-group health plan dies, leaving a spouse who has been enrolled in continuation coverage. For that qualifying event, what is the maximum continuation period under M.G.L. c. 176J, § 9?

Why D is correct

M.G.L. c. 176J, § 9 assigns the longest continuation period — 36 months — to the qualifying events of the employee's death, divorce or legal separation, the employee's Medicare entitlement, or a dependent child ceasing to meet the dependency conditions. The employee's death places the surviving spouse in this 36-month category, in contrast to the 18 months allowed for termination of employment or hours reduction.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) Eighteen months applies to termination of employment other than gross misconduct and to hours reduction, not to the death of the employee.
• B) Twenty-nine months is the disability-extension endpoint for qualified beneficiaries determined disabled under Social Security guidelines — a different mechanism from the death-event duration.
• C) Twelve months is not a continuation duration recognized for any qualifying event under M.G.L. c. 176J, § 9.

Memory hook

Death, divorce, Medicare, dependent — those four events earn the full 36 months.