COBRA Assistance Won't Be There For The Disabled

I had earlier wondered whether the COBRA health care insurance continuation assistance now available for laid off workers would extend to those forced to leave work due to illness, on the theory that their departure from work was also "involuntary."

Unfortunately, it was the Internal Revenue Service rather than the Department of Labor (where separations from employment due to illness have long been held to be involuntary for purposes of unemployment insurance) doing the interpreting. IRS Notice 2009-27 defines involuntary termination to mean a separation from employment "due to the independent exercise of the unilateral authority of the employer to terminate the employment." The notice goes on to say that "absence from work due to illness or disability" is not enough to qualify one for the COBRA assistance.