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Reference
Appendix and Legal Notices
assistance to request medical coverage under the Aflac
Employee Health Plan.
In addition, your requested election change must be
consistent with your status change event. For example,
if one of your eligible dependents no longer qualifies as
an eligible dependent, you may cancel coverage for that
dependent, but you may not cancel coverage for your
other eligible dependents. If you are not sure the election
change you would like to make is consistent with the
status change event, you should contact the Benefits
Department.
Continuous Coverage Rights Under COBRA
If you’re participating in an Aflac employee group health
plan benefit such as medical, dental, vision, health flexible
spending accounts or the employee assistance plan
(collectively referred to as the “Plan”), this notice contains
important information about your right to COBRA contin-
uation coverage, which is a temporary extension of group
health coverage under the Plan. This notice generally
explains COBRA continuation coverage, when it may
become available to you and your family and what you
need to do to protect the right to receive it.
The right to COBRA continuation coverage was created
by a federal law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1985, more commonly known as
COBRA. COBRA continuation coverage can become
available to you when you would otherwise lose your
group health coverage. It can also become available to
other members of your family who are covered under the
Plan when they would otherwise lose their group health
coverage. For additional information about your rights and
obligations under the Plan and under federal law, please
review the Plan’s SPD or call the Benefits Department at
706-317-0770 and ask for the plan administrator.
What Is COBRA Continuation Coverage?
COBRA continuation coverage is a continuation of group
health plan coverage when coverage would otherwise
end due to what is known as a “qualifying event” (specific
qualifying events are listed later in this section). After a
qualifying event, COBRA continuation coverage must
be offered to each qualified beneficiary. You, your legal
spouse, and your dependent children could become
qualified beneficiaries if coverage under the Plan is lost as
a result of the qualifying event. Continuation coverage will
also be offered to your registered domestic partner if his
or her coverage under the Plan is lost because of a quali-
fying event. Under the Plan, individuals who elect COBRA
continuation coverage must pay for the coverage.
If you’re an employee, you’ll become a qualified benefi-
ciary if you lose your coverage under the Plan for either of
these reasons:
• Your hours of employment are reduced or
• Your employment ends for any reason other than
your gross misconduct.
If you’re the legal spouse or registered domestic partner
of an Aflac employee, you’ll be offered continuation
coverage if you lose your coverage under the Plan for any
of these reasons:
• Your legal spouse or registered domestic partner dies.
• Your legal spouse’s or registered domestic partner’s
hours of employment are reduced.
• Your legal spouse’s or registered domestic partner’s
employment ends for any reason other than his or her
gross misconduct.
• Your legal spouse or registered domestic partner is
retired and becomes entitled to Medicare benefits
(under Part A, Part B or both).
• You are divorced or legally separated from your legal
spouse or you terminate your domestic partnership.
Your dependent children will be offered continuation
coverage if they lose group health coverage under the
Plan for any of these reasons:
• Parent-employee dies.
• Parent-employee’s hours of employment are
reduced.
• Parent-employee’s employment ends for any reason
other than his or her gross misconduct.
• Parent-employee becomes entitled to Medicare ben-
efits (Part A, Part B or both).
• Parents become divorced or legally separated or
terminate their domestic partnership.
• Child is no longer eligible for coverage under the Plan
as a dependent child.
Filing a proceeding in bankruptcy under Title 11 of the
United States Code can sometimes be a qualifying event.
If a proceeding in bankruptcy is filed with respect to Aflac,
and that bankruptcy results in the loss of coverage for
any retired employee covered under the Plan, the retired
employee will become a qualified beneficiary with respect
to the bankruptcy. The retired employee’s legal spouse
