Page 46 - USX Driver Handbook
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U.S. XPRESS, INC. DRIVER HANDBOOK U.S. XPRESS, INC. DRIVER HANDBOOK
group health insurance coverage will end. Also, if you do not become
re-employed within 63 days of your termination of employment, and
you have not chosen continuation coverage, you may lose prior coverage
credit toward pre-existing condition limitation periods when you next
become insured.
If you choose continuation coverage, the Company is required to
give you coverage which, as of the time coverage is being provided,
is similar to the coverage provided under the plan to similarly situated
employees or family members. The law requires that you be afforded
the opportunity to maintain continuation coverage for 36 months unless
you lost group health coverage because of a termination of employment
or reduction in hours. In that case, the required continuation coverage
period is 18 months. This 18 months may be extended to 36 months if
other events (such as a death, divorce, legal separation, or Medicare
entitlement) occur during that 18 month period. If a second qualifying
event occurs, you must make sure that the Plan Administrator is notified
of the second qualifying event within 60 days of the second qualifying
event. Continuation coverage for medical reimbursement benefits is only
available through the end of the Plan Year in which the qualifying event
occurs.
The 18 months may be extended to 29 months for an individual, and
his/her qualified dependents, if the individual is determined to be disabled
(for Social Security disability purposes) at the time of the qualifying
event or at any time during the first 60 days of continuation coverage, and
the Plan Administrator is notified of that determination within 60 days of
the date of the determination and before the end of the 18 month period.
The affected individual must also notify the Plan Administrator within 30
days of any final determination that the individual is no longer disabled.
In no event will continuation coverage last beyond 3 years from the date
of the event that originally made a qualified beneficiary eligible to elect
coverage.
However, the law also provides that your continuation coverage
may be terminated before the end of the maximum period for any of the
following five reasons:
(1) The Company no longer provides group health coverage to any of
its employees;
(2) You do not pay the premium for your continuation coverage on
time;
(3) You become covered under another group health plan after
the date of your COBRA election, unless that plan contains
any exclusions or limitations with respect to any pre-existing
conditions you or your covered dependents may have;
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