A federal law that requires most group health plans to allow certain individuals (referred to as COBRA qualified beneficiaries) who lose plan coverage due to specified qualifying events to elect to continue their coverage under the plan for a period of time on a self-pay basis (29 U.S.C. § 1161, 42 USC § 300bb-1; see Practice Note, COBRA Overview).

During the Great Recession, COBRA was amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to establish premium assistance rights for employees and their families who were involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. (The end-date for this COBRA subsidy was later extended to May 31, 2010.)

More recently, federal legislation enacted in response to the US outbreak of COVID-19, the disease that results from SARS-CoV-2, included a temporary 100% COBRA premium subsidy for certain individuals (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA-21), Pub. L. No. 117-2, § 9501 (2021); see Practice Note, COBRA Premium Assistance Under ARPA-21).