x-post: COBRA Help! Urgent. Might Lose Insurance April 1rst!

I know this isn't the place to post this, but I have nowhere else to turn to! I have just recently transferred to a new store and had to take COBRA because they couldn't offer me full time. This was only a few weeks ago. I became enrolled in Cobra last week or so and have been waiting for a bill. Well, I got a bill today in the mail and it's due on the first of April! Hello! I live in Alaska. It's Saturday night and my bill is due on Monday?!   The letter was postmarked on March 26th. What did they expect me to do, teleport it to them? What do I do? If I don't have it paid by the 1rst will I lose my insurance? You can only mail them in a check. You can't call and make a payment. There's no way that it's going to leave Alaska on Monday and get to Illinois the same day! How can they do this? There's no one at the benefits head quaters to call until Monday. Please help me. What do I do?

I don't know if this helps at all, but I would think that they would have a grace period. I would call on Monday and send it in with a letter explaining your situation. I do know that home and car insurance companies have a grace period...just not sure about COBRA. I would like to know, though, because I'm in a similar situation as I'll be purchasing my insurance through COBRA on the 30th of April. Sorry I couldn't help.

If you are going through Cobraserve, there is indeed a grace period... they will not cancel the insurance until after the grace period. Be warned, however, that since this is your first payment, it sometimes takes FOREVER for your insuracne coverage to actually get into the system.  If you need to see a medical provider during the enxt few weeks, be prepared that you will probably show up as "no coverage" since your previous (work) coverage has already been terminated and the Cobra coverage is not in sthe system yet. Also be aware that -- if yours is handled the same as mine -- Cobra updates the coverage records monthly... so even after you pay the April bill, it will only show that you have coverage from April 1 to May 1.  The only way I have been able to not have to hassle with me showing up with no coverage every single month until they get my payment and update the system is to pay the Cobra premium 15 days early so the record gets updated before the previous month's coverage ends. Lora