May a beneficiary enroll in a new health plan while on COBRA?

• A. No; COBRA coverage must continue without changes.
• B. Yes; they may enroll in another plan and either keep, suspend, or replace COBRA according to the new plan’s rules and coordination of benefits.
• C. Only if the new plan has the same insurer.
• D. Yes; they can abandon COBRA entirely.

Answer: (B)

The important idea is that COBRA coverage can work alongside another health plan through coordination of benefits. You’re not locked into COBRA alone—you can enroll in a new health plan and then decide how COBRA fits with that coverage.

The correct choice reflects that you may keep COBRA in place, suspend it while the new plan is active, or replace (end) COBRA if the new plan serves as the primary coverage and the plans coordinate benefits accordingly. The exact arrangement depends on the new plan’s rules and how the two plans coordinate benefits.

In practice, if you start a new job with a group plan, you can join that plan and coordinate with COBRA—potentially keeping COBRA as secondary, taking a break from COBRA, or ending COBRA if you no longer need it. It’s not required that the new plan be from the same insurer, and it isn’t necessary to abandon COBRA entirely without considering how the new plan handles coordination.