When does COBRA coverage begin in the case of a divorce?
A plan that is required to make COBRA coverage available to an employee's spouse must begin to make that coverage available as of the date of the couple's divorce. The plan is not required to begin coverage on an earlier date if the employee eliminated the spouse's coverage in anticipation of the divorce (IRS Revenue Ruling 2002-88, I.R.B. 2002-52, December 30, 2002).
The terms of the group health plan in which an employee and his spouse were enrolled provided that the employee could notify the plan to eliminate the spouse's coverage and that the coverage would be terminated as of the end of the month in which the notice was provided. In anticipation of the couple's divorce, the employee notified the plan administrator to eliminate the coverage for the employee's spouse and coverage was terminated as of the last day of the month. In addition, the plan administrator was provided notice of the divorce within 60 days after the issuance of the divorce decree.
The elimination of the spouse's coverage is ignored in determining whether the divorce is a qualifying event. The spouse would have remained covered until the divorce and then lost coverage because of it. Therefore, the divorce is a qualifying event and the employee's former spouse is a qualified beneficiary.
The period of COBRA coverage begins on the date of the qualifying event. There is no authority under the law or regulations for requiring a plan to make COBRA continuation coverage available before then.