How long do I have to elect COBRA continuation after losing coverage?

What this assumes

• The plan is a group health plan subject to the federal continuation rules in this part.

• A qualifying event has occurred, meaning one of the six events the statute lists [4].

• You are asking about the federal election window rather than about any state continuation law that may sit on top of it.

What changes the answer

• When coverage actually terminated by reason of the qualifying event, which is one end of the comparison [1].

• When the notice was received, since the window ends 60 days after the later of the two dates [1].

• Which qualifying event occurred, because that decides who had the duty to report it [2][4].

• Whether the event was a divorce, legal separation or a child ageing out, in which case you had 60 days to tell the administrator [2].

• Whether the plan is a multiemployer plan, which the statute allows to provide longer notice periods in its own terms [2].

Where it varies by state, form, carrier, or fact

• This is the federal floor. Several states add their own continuation rights, including for employers below the federal threshold, and those run on their own timetables.

• The statute sets minimum periods. A plan may be more generous, and what your plan documents say governs where they exceed the statute.

• Whether a termination was for gross misconduct is contested territory, and it is the one carve-out in the qualifying event list [4].

Next actions

1. Write down two dates: the date coverage ended, and the date the notice arrived. The window is measured from the later of them [1].

2. Keep the envelope or the email header, because the notice date is what fixes your deadline and the burden of showing it usually falls on the plan [1].

3. If the event was a divorce, legal separation, or a child ceasing to be a dependent, notify the administrator promptly, since that duty is yours and runs 60 days [2].

4. Do not assume you must pay on the day you elect. No premium may be required before day 45 after the initial election [3].

5. If no notice ever arrived, say so in writing to the administrator rather than letting the date pass, because the window turns on when notice was given [1].

Source ledger

4 sources. Every citation number above resolves to a record below. Nothing here sits behind an account.

1. [1]

   29 U.S.C. 1165 (the election period for COBRA continuation coverage)(opens the original record on Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov))

   Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction USLast checked September 6, 2026Updates: Amended only by legislation.ID usc-29-1165-election-period

   What this source supports (3)

   • Section 1165(a)(1)(A) provides that the election period begins not later than the date on which coverage terminates under the plan by reason of a qualifying event.
   • Section 1165(a)(1)(B) provides that the election period is of at least 60 days' duration.
   • Section 1165(a)(1)(C) provides that the election period ends not earlier than 60 days after the later of the date on which coverage terminates by reason of the qualifying event, or, in the case of any qualified beneficiary who receives notice under section 1166(4), the date of that notice.

   The election period is measured from the later of coverage ending and the notice arriving, so a late notice moves the deadline rather than shortening the window. That is the practical protection in this section and it is why the notice dates in section 1166 are worth recording at the time.

   Active
2. [2]

   29 U.S.C. 1166 (who must give notice of a qualifying event, and by when)(opens the original record on Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov))

   Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction USLast checked September 6, 2026Updates: Amended only by legislation.ID usc-29-1166-notice-requirements

   What this source supports (3)

   • Section 1166 requires the employer of an employee under a plan to notify the administrator of a qualifying event described in paragraph (1), (2), (4) or (6) of section 1163 within 30 days of the date of the qualifying event, or in the case of a group health plan which is a multiemployer plan such longer period as may be provided in the terms of the plan.
   • Section 1166 requires the administrator to notify any qualified beneficiary with respect to the event of that beneficiary's rights under the subsection, within 14 days of the date on which the administrator is notified, or in the case of a multiemployer plan such longer period as may be provided in the terms of the plan.
   • Section 1166 provides that each covered employee or qualified beneficiary is responsible for notifying the administrator of the occurrence of any qualifying event described in paragraph (3) or (5) of section 1163 within 60 days after the date of the qualifying event.

   The chain has three links and they run on different clocks: the employer has 30 days to tell the administrator, the administrator has 14 days to tell the beneficiary, and for divorce, legal separation or a child ceasing to be a dependent the duty to report sits on the individual with 60 days. Those two events are the ones an employer has no way of knowing about, which is the reason the statute allocates them differently.

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3. [3]

   29 U.S.C. 1162 (COBRA continuation coverage: the period, and what the plan may charge)(opens the original record on Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov))

   Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction USLast checked September 6, 2026Updates: Amended only by legislation.ID usc-29-1162-continuation-period

   What this source supports (5)

   • Section 1162(2)(A)(i) sets the maximum period of continuation coverage, for a qualifying event that is a termination or reduction of hours, at the date which is 18 months after the date of the qualifying event.
   • Section 1162(2)(A)(iv) sets the maximum period, for other qualifying events, at the date which is 36 months after the date of the qualifying event.
   • Section 1162(2)(A)(viii) provides that where a qualified beneficiary is determined to be disabled during the first 60 days of continuation coverage and proper notice is given before the end of the 18 months, any reference in clause (i) or (ii) to 18 months is deemed a reference to 29 months with respect to all qualified beneficiaries.
   • Section 1162(3) provides that the plan may require payment of a premium for any period of continuation coverage, provided that the premium shall not exceed 102 percent of the applicable premium for that period, and may at the election of the payor be made in monthly installments.
   • Section 1162(3) provides that in no event may the plan require the payment of any premium before the day which is 45 days after the day on which the qualified beneficiary made the initial election.

   The two figures people remember are 18 months and 102 percent, and the two they do not are the ones that decide whether continuation is usable in practice. The 45 day floor in subsection (3) means a person who has just lost coverage is not required to fund it on the day they elect, and the 29 month disability extension in (2)(A)(viii) reaches all qualified beneficiaries rather than only the disabled one. Read alongside sections 1163, 1165 and 1166, which supply the events, the election window and the notice chain that make this section operative.

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4. [4]

   29 U.S.C. 1163 (what counts as a qualifying event for COBRA continuation)(opens the original record on Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov))

   Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction USLast checked September 6, 2026Updates: Amended only by legislation.ID usc-29-1163-qualifying-events

   What this source supports (7)

   • Section 1163(1) lists the death of the covered employee as a qualifying event.
   • Section 1163(2) lists the termination, other than by reason of the employee's gross misconduct, or reduction of hours, of the covered employee's employment.
   • Section 1163(3) lists the divorce or legal separation of the covered employee from the employee's spouse.
   • Section 1163(4) lists the covered employee becoming entitled to benefits under title XVIII of the Social Security Act.
   • Section 1163(5) lists a dependent child ceasing to be a dependent child under the generally applicable requirements of the plan.
   • Section 1163(6) lists a proceeding in a case under title 11, commencing on or after July 1, 1986, with respect to the employer from whose employment the covered employee retired at any time.
   • Section 1163 provides that in the case of an event described in paragraph (6), a loss of coverage includes a substantial elimination of coverage with respect to a qualified beneficiary described in section 1167(3)(C) within one year before or after the date of commencement of the proceeding.

   The gross misconduct carve-out in paragraph (2) is the only conduct-based exclusion in the list, and it is the provision most often asserted and least often defined. Note also that paragraphs (3) and (5), divorce or legal separation and a child ceasing to be a dependent, are the two events the statute makes the individual rather than the employer responsible for reporting, which is why they are the ones most often missed.

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