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under the spouse’s health plan was in effect before the decision to continue health-care
coverage under COBRA is made.
COBRA requires employers to provide a “qualified beneficiary” (for example, an
employee who was fired) with continuation of health-care coverage as good as the
coverage the employee received while employed. The continuation of coverage can last
up to 18 months; the former employee pays the health-care insurance premiums.
The statutory language of COBRA clearly indicates that a former employee ceases
to be eligible for coverage under the Act if the employee becomes covered under a
different plan after the election of COBRA benefits. Section 1162(2)(D)(i) states that an
employee’s COBRA insurance may be canceled on “the date on which the qualified
beneficiary first becomes, after the date of the election [to continue coverage from a
former employer], covered under any other group health plan which does not contain
any exclusion or limitation with respect to any pre-existing conditions of such
beneficiary . . . ” However, the language does not directly address whether a former
employee who was covered by another plan before electing to continue coverage from
the former employer (that is, while the former employee was still employed) is ineligible
for COBRA benefits. 5

OFFICE OF FEDERAL CONTRACT COMPLIANCE
PROGRAMS

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Web site states that

the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers and enforces
three legal authorities that require equal employment opportunity: Executive Order
11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Taken together, these laws ban discrimination and require
Federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to ensure that all
individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without regard to race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam era or special disabled
veteran. This order, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, prohibits
discrimination in hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, gender,
religion, and national origin. It applies to all nonexempt government contractors and
subcontractors and federally assisted construction contracts and subcontracts in excess
of $10,000.
Under the Executive Order, contractors and subcontractors with a federal contract
of $50,000 or more, and 50 or more employees are required to develop a written
affirmative action program that is designed to ensure equal employment opportunity,
and sets forth specific and action-oriented programs to which a contractor commits
itself to apply every good faith effort.

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