[header] How to sign up for cobra insurance [title] Verify that you had the correct type of plan. [step] Unlike medicare and medicaid, cobra is not a federal insurance program. Instead it is a federal law that allows you to keep any private insurance that you might have had after a sudden loss of coverage. 
You must have been part of a group plan offered by your employer to qualify for cobra. [substeps] The vast majority of employer provided healthcare qualifies.