Have you talked to your Human Resources person at your last place of employment?
That person should be able to answer your questions.
Or call the insurance billing person at a local hospital.
I am thinking if you waited and needed it nearer the end of the grace period you may have to pay for the preceding months anyway.

I used it many years ago. It's not an insurance policy....it's a program that allows you to keep your employer's health insurance for a specified length of time. With us, it was 18 months.
DH was hospitalized while we were on it, and the hospital just billed AETNA same as if it was still company ins. No difference in what the policy paid for, or deductibles from what we paid when he was employed.

The link below is from COBRA and may answer your questions

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs on COBRA

The answer to your question is YES. But you would have to pay for both months, not just the last month. Went to a class on this when I was in HR, and the person who gave the presentation did answer this question. Even more interesting, if the person making the COBRA decision were to become incapacitated as in a coma for like 3 months, they would be able to cobra still...because they couldn't make a decision durring the time needed.

What I don't know is if you can cobra because of strike.

Vickey-MN

I am thinking if you waited and needed it nearer the end of the grace period you may have to pay for the preceding months anyway. That is true.

What I don't know is if you can cobra because of strike. Yes, you can according to the paperwork the union has sent out.

I'm still really confused.. off the read the link posted above.

I don't understand why going on strike would cause your DH to lose his health benefits at all. He's not being laid off he's striking and current benefits other than his paycheck should remain in place. My DH has been a union employee at many jobs over his 40+ year career an and never lost health benefits during a strike.

OK I asked DH and he said his unions have always planned strikes to begin on a day that would allow coverage to continue for the rest of the month since coverage is extended to the end of the last month paid. He's has never been on strike for more than several weeks so Cobra wasn't an issue.

As to the question of retroactive Cobra if you decide to take the risk of not needing it I don't know. I could see a situation where you would have to pay the hospital up front and hope Cobra would come through later.

COBRA is for people who lose their jobs....not people who walk off them.
Of course, things are getting crazier....nurses who went on strike in Philadelphia for several weeks were awarded unemployment benefits, just a month ago.

From the Cobra website: COBRA Insurance can protect you if you are: Between Jobs, Laid off, On Strike I know we can get the COBRA at a high cost.. something like $16,000 since we'd have to pay for all months back to October. Pretty crazy on our end too!

Been digging around and found this which pretty much answers my questions:
Skip COBRA
Conventional wisdom says that if you lose your job, you should go on COBRA right away. If you're healthy, you can almost certainly find an individual policy that offers better coverage for way less money. COBRA is meant to be a last resort, so only use it if you can't get real insurance.

Don't elect COBRA until you need it
Even if you can't find any other insurance options and need to use COBRA, you don't need to actually pay for it until you get sick. You have 60 days before you have to elect into COBRA and another 45 days after that before you have to pay. Once you elect, you receive retroactive coverage. So basically, don't elect until 60 days after you left the company, and don't ever pay unless you actually get sick and need the coverage (or if 105 days passes and you still don't have real insurance). With this loophole, you can be covered by COBRA for 105 days after losing your job without ever paying a dime.

Here is a link that might be useful: Copied from this website

Is DH anticipating a long strike?

In '96 (I think) DH was on strike for 3 months... so that is certainly possible again. I'm hoping the mediators can get both sides to come to an agreement within the next few days.

If there is a strike I think we'll do nothing for 60 days and if no medical emergency comes up forcing us to go with COBRA we'll purchase catastrophic health insurance for the remainder of the strike (which would pay any major hospitalization).