Kansas program
Work-plan coverage after a job ends (Kansas continuation)
A way to keep an insured work health plan after job coverage ends, with you paying the premium.
What it is
A way to keep an insured work health plan after job coverage ends, with you paying the premium.
Keeping the same plan may preserve access to the treatment team. Kansas continuation applies to insured group policies. Human resources and the insurer can compare its full premium with other coverage choices.
Eligibility rules
- At least three months of continuous prior coverage are required.
- This state route concerns insured group policies. Private self-funded plans need the federal continuation review.
What you get
- Up to 18 months on the insured group plan.
- Premiums paid by you at the remaining group’s rate.
What the help includes
- A change in who pays the premium can make keeping the same coverage much more expensive.
If you decide to apply
- Ask human resources for the Kansas continuation forms, monthly rate and election deadline in writing.
- Have your coverage dates and the employer’s coverage-ending notice ready.
The employer and the insurance carrier · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The insurer, through the employer, decides whether the state continuation rule applies.
- Kansas continuation and conversion are different choices.
- The employer must give reasonable notice of continuation rights.
- The written notice and policy must identify the continuation-election and first-premium deadlines and their triggers.
- If you switch to an individual policy instead, the form and first payment are due within 31 days of the coverage ending.
- That insurer notice has its own timing.
- Federal COBRA’s 60-day election and 45-day initial-payment rules are separate.
Good to know
Ask HR for the election deadline in writing; the 31-day deadline you may see on the notice is for switching to an individual policy, a different choice.
Other details
- The plan’s legal type matters more than the insurer’s name on the card.
Official sources
“Could we keep this work plan through Kansas continuation, and what would it cost compared with our other choices? Would you help us decide whether to elect it?”
Why I’m asking: I want to avoid a break in my child’s treatment if job coverage ends.
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 in writing for the forms and the deadline, and keep the reply.
Your social worker
The human resources office gives the forms and the rate.
The care team
Nothing.
- Who decides
- The insurance carrier, through the employer.
- Ask HR
- “Is our plan insured or self-funded, what is the deadline to elect continuation, and what will the monthly rate be?”
How to apply
First step: Write to the human resources office the day you are told, and ask for the forms, the deadline and the monthly rate.
- Ask the employer in writing for the continuation forms and the election deadline the day you are told.
- Ask whether the plan is insured or self-funded, because that decides which rule applies.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the employer in writing for the continuation paperwork as soon as the end date is known.
What to gather
- The letter with the coverage end date
- The plan documents or the summary of benefits
How long: Continuation can last up to 18 months. The employer must give reasonable notice; the written notice and policy identify the continuation election and first-premium deadlines and triggers.
What a yes looks like
Forms from the carrier and a monthly rate, with the same plan number continuing.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask whether the plan is self-funded. If it is, the federal rule is the one to use.
Watch out
- Continuation and conversion are different. Conversion application and first premium are due within 31 days after termination or receipt of the specified insurer notice. That is not the continuation election deadline.
- Continuation can last up to 18 months. The employer must give reasonable notice; the written notice and policy identify the continuation election and first-premium deadlines and triggers.
- The Kansas statute covers qualifying insured group policies. A private self-funded employer plan generally needs the federal continuation review; the employer’s legal type still matters.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Up to 18 months on the same insured group plan, paid by the former employee at the remaining-group rate.
Covers: The same group plan continues
Legal protection: 18 months for the employee or member and covered dependents · Three months of prior continuous coverage is the entry condition
What it costs the family: The former employee pays the carrier at the rate charged for the remaining group.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Prior coverage
- at least three months of continuous coverage
- Plan scope
- insured group policies as the statute describes them; it is not established as a rule for self-funded plans
- Residency
- Kansas
The trap: Continuation and conversion are different. Conversion application and first premium are due within 31 days after termination or receipt of the specified insurer notice. That is not the continuation election deadline.
Where I read this
- K.S.A. 40-2209: group accident and health insurance — Kansas Legislature, read September 10, 2026