Oregon program
Keep a small-employer work plan after coverage ends
Oregon lets some families keep a small-employer health plan after job coverage ends [state continuation].
What it is
Oregon lets some families keep a small-employer health plan after job coverage ends [state continuation].
Keeping the same plan can help preserve access to a cancer team during a coverage change. Oregon's continuation route applies to insured group plans at small employers. Its short request window and full premium are worth comparing with other coverage options.
Eligibility rules
- The employer must have fewer than 20 employees and an insured group policy.
- At least 3 months of continuous coverage is required before employment or coverage ends. It need not all be with the same employer.
- Self-funded employer plans fall outside this state route.
What you get
- Up to 9 months of the same group coverage at the full premium.
- Continuation for an eligible employee's spouse and children too.
What the help includes
- Continuation preserves the group plan and its network, subject to the policy's terms.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the employer or insurer for the continuation notice, full monthly price and written deadline.
- If you choose continuation, send the insurer a written request using the notice's instructions.
Your employer's benefits office or the group insurer. · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The insurer confirms continuation and sends the premium bill.
Good to know
The request window can be as short as 10 days. Keeping the same coverage can cost much more without the employer contribution.
Other details
- The written continuation election is due no sooner than the later of 10 days after you become eligible or 10 days after the insurer gives notice. Ask the social worker and insurer to confirm the notice, premium due dates and exact deadline; this is not the federal COBRA timetable.
- A comparison can include the cost of keeping the cancer team, OHP eligibility and other special-enrollment options.
“If our small-employer coverage ends, could state continuation keep the cancer team covered? What are the benefits, costs and drawbacks, and could you help with the request if it is the best fit?”
Why I’m asking: I want to compare continuity of treatment with the full price of keeping the work plan.
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 and send the written request inside the window.
Your social worker
Human resources gives you the insurer's notice and the deadline.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The insurer.
- Ask HR
- “Our coverage is ending. Can you send me the insurer's continuation notice, the exact deadline, and the monthly premium in writing?”
How to apply
First step: With the social worker and HR, compare the options and confirm the insurer’s written notice, premium and exact election deadline before deciding.
- Ask the employer for the insurer's notice and the deadline in writing, the day you hear the job is ending.
- Send the written request to the insurer straight away.
- Work out the full premium and compare it with the Oregon Health Plan and a Marketplace plan before choosing.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: The written election window cannot be shorter than ten days after eligibility for continuation or ten days after the insurer’s notice, whichever is later. This is separate from federal COBRA.
What to gather
- The insurer's notice
- The last day of coverage
- The full monthly premium
How long: The written election window cannot be shorter than ten days after eligibility for continuation or ten days after the insurer’s notice, whichever is later. This is separate from federal COBRA.
Clock: Ask the insurer in writing; the window cannot be shorter than 10 days after the later of eligibility or the insurer's notice
What a yes looks like
A bill from the insurer and the same card continuing.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Usually the employer size or the three-month prior-coverage test. Ask which, in writing.
Watch out
- The written election window cannot be shorter than ten days after eligibility for continuation or ten days after the insurer’s notice, whichever is later. This is separate from federal COBRA.
- It only covers insured group plans, not self-funded ones.
- You pay the whole premium, so compare it with the Oregon Health Plan first.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
The same insured group plan for up to nine months after coverage ends, at the full premium.
- $9 — Months of continued coverage
- $20 — Employee-count ceiling
- $3 — Months of prior continuous coverage needed
- $10 — Shortest request window the insurer may set
Covers: The same plan, the same network
Legal protection: The employee's spouse and children can keep the coverage too
What it costs the family: You pay the full price of the coverage.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Employer
- fewer than 20 employees
- Prior coverage
- at least three months of continuous coverage before employment or coverage ended, not necessarily with the same employer
- Plan type
- insured group health policies; ERISA-exempt self-funded plans are outside it
The trap: The written election window cannot be shorter than ten days after eligibility for continuation or ten days after the insurer’s notice, whichever is later. This is separate from federal COBRA.
Where I read this
- Oregon DFR: State continuation — Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, read September 10, 2026
- ORS 743B.347: Continuation of group coverage — Oregon Legislature, read September 10, 2026