I made a mistake! Can COBRA still reimburse my bills?

Hi all,

I made stupid mistake and didn't pay my COBRA bill this month. Long story short I got let go from a job at the very end of March and elected Covered California health insurance that would kick in at the beginning of May 1st. I thought that I could go without COBRA for the month of April (I only had one specialist appointment and paid just under $100 for the appointment without insurance) but of course I just had an emergency visit to the ER recently and now I realize I need to pay for COBRA payment in order to retroactively enact coverage and get the ER bill covered.

(Please save the comments calling me dumb/an idiot I've already done that to myself already <3)

Questions:

1) If I make the payment today will it work retroactively and cover/reimburse the hospital for my recent ER bill? (Please see below for payment details)

2) Since I will already be using Covered California for the month of May, can I just pay the April COBRA bill and decide not to continue it after April 31st (since I'm only using it to help with the reimbursement/lower the cost of the ER bill)?

COBRA Outstanding Premium Payments

Due Date

4/1

Deadline Date

5/20

Premium

$394.97

Participant Paid

0.00

Employer Paid

0.00

Total Paid

0.00

Participant Owed

394.97

submitted by /u/brown-bear-cuddles
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