Arizona program
Keeping a small employer’s health plan after coverage ends
Arizona continuation coverage can keep a small employer’s health plan in place after coverage would end.
What it is
Arizona continuation coverage can keep a small employer’s health plan in place after coverage would end.
Keeping the same plan can protect access to an oncology team during treatment. Arizona’s continuation law covers some employers too small for federal COBRA. The premium includes the share the employer used to pay.
Eligibility rules
- The employer must average at least one but fewer than 20 eligible employees during the previous calendar year. The employee needs at least three months of coverage before the qualifying event.
- The law applies to health-benefit plans issued or renewed after December 31, 2018. It does not apply when federal continuation is available or the person is eligible for Medicare.
- This applies when an insurer runs the plan. If the employer pays the claims itself, or it is a government or school plan, ask HR which continuation right applies.
- Medicare, Medicaid or other coverage can end continuation for the person concerned. HR can compare the actual termination conditions and replacement coverage dates before you choose.
What you get
- Up to 18 months on the same health plan.
- A chance to preserve the plan’s existing treatment network.
What the help includes
- A qualifying disability finding for a covered dependent can add 11 months under the statute’s conditions. Certain second events can add 18 months.
- A qualifying disability extension can raise the premium to 150% of the plan cost. The ordinary maximum is 105%. The statute’s extension and notice conditions apply.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the employer’s benefits office for a written continuation quote and election notice.
- Have the coverage-loss date, notice and monthly premium ready. Compare treatment access and cost with other coverage.
Your employer’s benefits office and insurer · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The employer must send the notice within 30 days of coverage ending. You then have 60 days to choose and 45 more to pay the first premium. If the notice was late or wrong, you get 120 days from the notice to do both.
- Written acceptance and coverage dates establish when the same plan remains available.
Good to know
You normally pay the whole premium plus up to 5%. An incomplete, wrong or late notice changes both the election and first-payment deadlines.
Other details
- Continuing the plan can be expensive even when it preserves the treatment network. Medicaid and Marketplace options have separate eligibility and start dates.
Official sources
“If work coverage ends, could we keep the same plan under Arizona’s continuation law? Could you help us compare the full premium, deadlines and treatment access before we choose?”
Why I’m asking: I want to avoid a treatment disruption if employment changes.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for the notice in writing, elect in writing within 60 days, pay within 45 days of electing.
Your social worker
The benefits office sends the notice and the cost.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The employer and its insurer.
- Ask HR
- “If my job ends, can I continue this plan under Arizona’s small-employer law? What would it cost a month and when must I elect?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the benefits office in writing what continuation would cost a month, and when you must elect.
- Ask the benefits office in writing for the continuation notice and the monthly cost.
- Compare that cost with state coverage and with a Marketplace plan before electing.
- Diarise the 60-day and 45-day deadlines.
Where it starts: Ask the employer’s benefits office in writing. Elect within 60 days of the notice and pay within 45 days of electing.
What to gather
- The employer’s written notice
- The monthly premium figure
- Confirmation that the oncology team stays in network
How long: 60 days to elect from the notice, then 45 days to pay the first premium.
Clock: Ordinarily the employer notice is due within 30 days after coverage ends; mailing within 44 days satisfies the statute. Election is within 60 days of notice and first payment within 45 days after election. With late, incorrect or incomplete notice, both election and first payment are due within 120 days after the notice date, without another 45 days.
What a yes looks like
A written election accepted and the same card working at the same hospital.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask whether federal continuation applies instead; the state law steps aside when it does.
Watch out
- You pay the whole cost, the employer’s share included, plus up to five percent.
- With a complete and timely notice, election is within 60 days of the notice date and first payment within 45 days after election. If notice is late, incorrect or incomplete, both steps are due within 120 days after the notice date.
- Public and school plans require a separate review of the applicable continuation law. Federal continuation controls when available; funding type alone does not settle all public-plan questions.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Keep the same plan for 18 months, at the full cost plus a fee of up to five percent.
- $18 — How long ordinary continuation runs
- $60 — Days to elect in writing after the notice
- $45 — Days to pay the first premium after electing
- $5/month — Largest administration fee on top of the premium
Covers: The same plan, the same network, the same oncology team
Legal protection: A further 11 months where a covered dependant is determined to have a disability, on the statute’s conditions · A further 18 months after certain second events · With late, incorrect or incomplete employer notice, both election and first payment are due within 120 days after the notice date.
What it costs the family: The whole premium, the employer’s share included, plus up to five percent.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Employer size
- an average of at least one but fewer than twenty eligible employees in the previous calendar year
- Prior coverage
- the employee was covered for at least three months before the qualifying event
- Plans
- health benefits plans issued or renewed after December 31, 2018
- Exclusions
- Federal continuation controls where available; Medicare eligibility is an exclusion. Private ERISA self-funded plans are not subject to this state mandate; public-plan rules require a separate check.
The trap: The family pays the full premium plus an administration fee of up to 5%. A complete and timely notice normally gives 60 days after the notice date to elect and 45 days after election to pay. With defective notice, the special 120-day period after the notice date covers both election and first payment, not an extra 45 days.
Where I read this
- A.R.S. §20-2330 — Continuation coverage — Arizona State Legislature, read September 10, 2026
- A.R.S. §20-2301 — Definitions — Arizona State Legislature, read September 10, 2026