Special Enrollment and COBRA

[Guest Brenda N.]

An employee terminated coverage. He was entitled to Medicare at the time of termination. He and his wife enrolled in COBRA. 18 months have passed. But the wife is continuing COBRA for 36 months from the former employee's Medicare entitlement date. She wants to add the former employee to her COBRA plan as a dependent. She claims she should be able to do this under special enrollment, because her spouse has lost health coverage under the plan. Do the COBRA rules require that the former employee (who has exhausted 18 months of COBRA), be allowed back onto the COBRA plan as someone else's dependent? Can a dependent who has Medicare qualify for special enrollment under COBRA?