You do not have to lose the job to get COBRA
A reduction in hours that causes you to lose eligibility for the health plan is a COBRA qualifying event in exactly the same way a layoff is. You keep working. You keep your employer. You still get the right to continue the plan for up to 18 months.
Most people have no idea this exists, because the language everyone uses is "COBRA is for when you lose your job." It is not. It is for when you lose the coverage.
How to tell whether it has been triggered
The test is the plan's own eligibility rule, not a legal threshold. Most employer plans require somewhere around 30 hours a week; some set it higher or lower. Find the number in your Summary Plan Description — the plan is required to give you one — and compare it against your new hours.
If you have dropped below it and coverage is ending or has ended, that is the qualifying event. Your employer has 30 days to notify the plan, and the plan then has 14 days to send you an election notice.
The part that makes this decision different
You are still employed, which means you still have income — often reduced, but real. That changes the comparison in two ways.
You may now qualify for a marketplace subsidy you did not qualify for before. Premium tax credits are based on expected income for the year, and a cut in hours can drop you into subsidy range for the first time. Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period exactly as a layoff would.
But watch for the offer-of-coverage rule. If your employer still offers you coverage that is considered affordable and adequate — even at the reduced hours — you may be ineligible for a marketplace subsidy. If they have stopped offering it because you no longer meet the eligibility threshold, you are not caught by this. It is a specific question worth asking directly rather than assuming, and the answer determines which option is actually cheaper.
COBRA compared with a marketplace plan · What COBRA costs · Other ways people lose coverage
Common questions
Can I get COBRA if my hours were cut but I still work here?
Yes. A reduction in hours that causes you to lose eligibility for the health plan is a qualifying event, and it carries the same 18 months as a termination. You do not have to leave the job.
How many hours do I have to drop below?
There is no single legal threshold — it is whatever your plan sets as its eligibility rule, commonly around 30 hours a week. Check your Summary Plan Description, which your plan is required to provide.
Does it matter whether I asked for fewer hours?
No. COBRA does not distinguish between a voluntary and an involuntary reduction in hours. Either way, if you lose plan eligibility as a result, the qualifying event has occurred.
Does an unpaid leave of absence count?
It can. If the leave causes you to lose eligibility for the plan, that is a reduction in hours for COBRA purposes. Leave protected under the FMLA works differently — taking FMLA leave is not itself a qualifying event, though failing to return from it can be.
My employer never sent me anything. What now?
Ask in writing and keep the copy. Employers process reduction-in-hours events far less reliably than terminations. Your 60-day election window runs from the later of losing coverage or receiving the notice, so a missing notice does not automatically end your rights — but it is difficult to prove later.
Can I get a marketplace subsidy instead?
Possibly, and the lower income may qualify you for the first time. But if your employer still offers you coverage that counts as affordable and adequate, that can disqualify you from a subsidy. Ask your employer directly whether coverage is still being offered to you at your new hours.
What if my hours go back up?
You can generally rejoin the employer plan and drop COBRA. Becoming covered by another group health plan is one of the events that ends COBRA early without the consequences of simply canceling it.
Talk it through with a licensed agent
Which option is right depends on your state, your income and which doctors you need to keep. A licensed agent can walk through it with you in about eight minutes.
Free to call, no obligation, and we never ask you for payment. CobraScout is paid by the agency that answers, not by you. TTY 711.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COBRA Continuation Coverage fact sheet
- HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Periods and qualifying life events