Do columnists do any research?

On January 16th I read a column by the Ledger's Bob Braun. He wrote about a woman named Virginia Javras who worked as an office manager at a small engineering firm. Her employer provided medical benefits which were very important to her. Eventually, however, she was laid off and according to Braun,

"So she worked out an arrangement with her employer. She would contribute to a medical benefits plan -- about $400 a month -- and would continue to get her costs covered. Every month, she'd send a check and get her meds and her visits paid.

Then, she remembers, a night in December, 2003, when the white-coated young pharmacist behind the high counter punched the keys of a computer, looked puzzled, then came back to say to Javras: "The carrier is declining payment."

A mistake, Javras thought. But it was more than that. Her employer had subscribed only to a year-long plan and it had expired. "

Small companies in New Jersey, those under 25 people offer what is called State Continuation Insurance. Large companies offer COBRA. Under the State Continuation plan small employers have to offer terminated employees access to their health care as long as the former employee pays the cost of the insurance plus a 2% administration fee. The term of this insurance continuation is, by law, twelve months. Insurance companies won't cover anyone for a longer period of time. COBRA will let a former employee carry insurance for eighteeen months. Small companies can not continue Dental. The rules of your coverage are usually spelled out in a letter that the company will provide when it offers the continuation option. Braun makes it seem like the company was uncaring. They did everything right and he should do his homework.