N.C. law extends COBRA enrollment - Denver Business Journal:

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The law extends the enrollment period to 120 days from 60 The coverage, often called “mini-COBRA,” will ultimatelu allow employees to receive the federal stimuluse package’s 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy. Laid-offg personnel must have worked at small businesses with fewere than20 employees. “Because of this legislation and the federapremium subsidy, more North Carolinians who have been laid off will be able to maintaim their insurance coverage,” says N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.
“We hear from a lot of consumersd who unfortunately have chosen not to extendx their coverage through COBRAor mini-COBRAq because it is simply too expensivs or they missed the election COBRA gives workers and their familiesx the option to continue group healtu benefits for limited period of time under certain circumstances. Underd federal law, COBRA generally applies to companie s with 20 ormore employees, and workers may be charged up to 102 percentt of the full healtb insurance premium.
Insurance companies of small employersa — those who have fewer than 20 employees are required to offer continuation coverage underNorth Carolina’ s Group Health Insurance Continuation laws. The federaol stimulus package contains two provisions that expanx the benefits available to employees whose jobs have been It extends the election periodc for eligible employees to determine whether they wish to enroll in the federapCOBRA program. The new N.C. law provides the same extendex election periodfor mini-COBRA in North Carolina.
The federal package also providesz a subsidy that pays for 65 percentg of the premium for both COBRAand mini-COBRA recipientsw who were laid off between 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009. Dependint on the size of the former employer, either the employere or the insurance provider fronts 65 percent of the premium amount and then recoup that expense through federal payrolltax credits. Workers are responsible for the remaininb 35 percent ofthe premium.