COBRA insurance is supplemental insurance. It’s not AFLAC; rather, it’s the insurance that people can acquire when they are between jobs or are otherwise lacking in health care coverage. COBRA is actually an acronym that stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It is now used exclusively to describe the health benefit provisions of that 1986 law. That is how COBRA became COBRA insurance.

The main users of COBRA insurance are people who have, for whatever reason, lost their primary means of health coverage. The most common instance of this is the loss of a job. COBRA insurance covers much more than former employees, though. Other common users of COBRA insurance include recent retirees and people with disabilities. COBRA insurance also commonly covers the spouse and/or children of those who enjoy its benefits.

COBRA insurance is usually more expensive to those who have it than the health insurance that they received when they were working for someone else. Most employers pay at least a percentage of the health care costs of their employees. For the vast majority of companies, providing health care coverage and paying for at least some of the costs associated with that coverage is mandated by national laws. The person who has COBRA insurance, however, must pay all costs herself.

Companies that offer COBRA insurance offer the coverage at group rates, even to individuals. Since group rates are usually lower than individual rates, the user of COBRA insurance pays less than he might otherwise pay if pursuing an individual health care policy. The employee who is suddenly out of a job might find his health care costs increase but, through the use of COBRA insurance, can avoid even higher costs because of the special group rate available.

Specific health benefits often included in COBRA insurance packages are doctor care, hospital care – both inpatient and outpatient but not usually extended-stay care, surgery, prescription drugs, and even medical and dental needs. Life insurance, which might be offered as a matter of course by employer-provided health care packages, is not part of any COBRA insurance package.

COBRA insurance varies from provider to provider. Despite its eponymous name, COBRA insurance is not offered by just one provider. The COBRA law stipulates certain basic kinds of coverage that its users must receive. Some providers might offer their users more than the minimum.