Minnesota program
Keep an insured work plan after a job ends (state continuation)
Minnesota law can let you keep an insured work health plan after leaving the job.
What it is
Minnesota law can let you keep an insured work health plan after leaving the job.
If work coverage ends, Minnesota law lets you keep the same insured plan for up to 18 months at the full premium, whatever the employer's size. Ask HR for the notice, the full price and the deadline to choose.
Who can qualify
- The law covers insured Minnesota group policies, subscriber contracts and employer HMO coverage.
- Federal agency employee plans are excluded. A self-funded plan needs a separate federal or public-plan check, including employer type and applicable exclusions.
- Minnesota’s law has no 20-employee minimum.
- A qualifying termination or reduction in hours must cause loss of coverage. Exclusions such as gross misconduct can apply. Not having a current work plan does not rule out an electable former plan.
What you get
- Up to 18 months of eligible group coverage.
- The full premium plus up to 2%, with plan-wide changes still possible.
What the help includes
- The maximum charge can include a 2% administrative amount above the full premium.
- Continuation follows the group plan’s benefits and network, including changes that affect other members. The plan confirms how amounts already paid within its plan year are treated.
If you decide to apply
- Ask your social worker to help you get the continuation notice, election form and full monthly price from the benefits office.
- Compare that price and the cancer team’s access with MNsure and Medical Assistance options.
Your employer’s benefits office and the insurer. · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The employer supplies the continuation notice and election form. The employer and insurer handle continuation.
Good to know
The 60-day election window runs from the later of coverage ending or receipt of the required notice. The plan confirms the current network and full premium.
Other details
- State continuation and federal COBRA can describe overlapping rights. The benefits office can identify which applies to the exact plan.
Official sources
“Could Minnesota continuation keep our child’s current plan, and what would the full premium be? What are the benefits and drawbacks compared with other coverage, and could you help us compare?”
Why I’m asking: Keeping the current cancer team may matter, but I need to understand the cost.
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, then elect within sixty days if the plan is worth keeping.
Your social worker
The employer has to give the notice and the election form.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The employer and the insurer.
- Ask HR
- “Is our plan insured or self-funded, and can you send me the Minnesota continuation notice and the election form with the monthly cost?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the employer for the continuation notice and the monthly cost.
- Ask the employer in writing for the continuation notice.
- Compare the premium with a marketplace plan before electing.
- Check the oncology group stays in network either way.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the employer for the continuation notice and election form as soon as the job ends.
What to gather
- The date coverage would end
- The full monthly premium
How long: Sixty days to elect, running from the later of the loss or the notice.
What a yes looks like
The same insurance card keeps working and a bill arrives each month.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If the employer says the plan is self-funded, ask about federal continuation instead.
Watch out
- You pay the whole premium yourself, which is a large jump.
- Compare the cost against a marketplace plan before you elect.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Up to eighteen months of the same plan at up to 102 percent of the premium, with sixty days to decide.
- $18 — Maximum months of continued coverage
- $102/month — Maximum share of the premium charged
- $60 — Days to elect after the later of the loss or the notice
Covers: Continued eligible group coverage, subject to plan-wide benefit and network changes
Legal protection: The election window runs from the later of the coverage loss or the notice
What it costs the family: The full premium plus up to two percent.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Plan type
- insured Minnesota group policies, subscriber contracts and employer health maintenance organisation coverage
- Excluded
- federal agency employee plans
The trap: You pay the whole premium plus a small administrative amount, which is a shock after paying a share of it. Compare it with a marketplace plan before electing.
Where I read this
- Minnesota Statutes 62A.16 and 62A.17 — continuation of coverage — Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, read September 10, 2026