Postdoctoral Benefit Program Portal
Continuing Coverage When Your Appointment Terminates
ELECTING COBRA AND CONTINUING YOUR MEDICAL AND/OR DENTAL COVERAGE
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), offers coverage when you experience a qualifying event, such as the termination of Postdoctoral Researcher or Visiting Scholar appointment, and you lose your insurance coverage.
When your Postdoctoral Researcher or Visiting Scholar appointment terminates and you leave the university, you may continue your insurance coverage for any of the medical and/or dental plans in which you and your family members are enrolled by electing COBRA Continuation Coverage.
When you elect COBRA coverage, you will pay for each plan in which you and your family members choose to be enrolled.
Your insurance termination date may be the same date as your appointment end date, or a later date depending on the month your appointment ends. For example:
If your job end date is any day of the month, your insurance coverage will run through the end of that month.
ELECTING AND PAYING FOR COBRA CONTINUATION COVERAGE
Once GBS receives your termination record from the University of Chicago, GBS will send you a COBRA Election Notice and a packet which displays the plans that are available to you. That notice is sent to your last known address communicated to us by the University of Chicago.
To elect your coverage, you will need to complete the COBRA Election Notice and the carrier application that was included in the packet and send it back to our office within the timeframe noted on the COBRA Election Notice. You will be billed by GBS for your elected coverage. GBS will send you a monthly invoice via email. Payment will be made securely online via credit card / debit card payment.
If you decide to elect COBRA for you and any of your enrolled dependents, you will be responsible for paying the monthly premiums to the insurance carriers. To learn how much you will pay per month for any coverage you elect through COBRA, please click below:
COBRA GENERAL NOTICE – CONTINUATION COVERAGE RIGHTS
The COBRA General Notice - Continuation Coverage Rights contains language that assumes you have already enrolled in the plan, and is included as a section of the enrollment form. Please read the COBRA General Notice of COBRA Continuation Coverage Rights listed below, which provides details concerning continuing your coverage.
If you are not enrolling in any plans in the University of Chicago (medical and/or dental), this document does not pertain to you.