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COBRA: what it means

COBRA is a federal law that may let you keep your job-based health coverage for a limited time after your employment ends, after you lose coverage as a dependent of an employee, or after another qualifying event, such as reduced work hours. You may get it if your former employer offers it.

In Spanish it is

COBRA

Also written as: COBRA · Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

The full explanation

If you choose COBRA, you pay the whole premium, including the share your employer used to pay, plus a small administrative fee. Losing job-based coverage can open a Special Enrollment Period in the Health Insurance Marketplace; dropping COBRA on your own does not.

An example

Lucía loses her job and is offered COBRA. She compares that premium, which she now pays in full, with Marketplace plans, where she might get savings based on her income.

You will see it in…

  • Your former employer's letter about continuing your health coverage
  • Monthly COBRA premium bills
  • HealthCare.gov and your state's Marketplace

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

More words on this topic: Money

A man shakes hands with the specialist who helped him with his loan, in the kitchen of his new home.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

  1. 1. HealthCare.gov · COBRA (glossary) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
  2. 2. HealthCare.gov · Health coverage options if you're unemployed · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
  3. 3. HealthCare.gov · Getting health coverage outside Open Enrollment (Special Enrollment Periods) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026