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does provide health benefits. Whenever "Plan" is used in this section, it means any of the health <br />benefits under this Plan including the Health Care Reimbursement Plan. <br />1. What is COBRA Continuation Coverage? <br />COBRA continuation coverage is the temporary extension of group health plan coverage <br />that must be offered to certain Plan Participants and their eligible family members (called <br />"Qualified Beneficiaries") at group rates. The right to COBRA continuation coverage is triggered <br />by the occurrence of a life event that results in the loss of coverage under the terms of the Plan <br />(the "Qualifying Event"). The coverage must be identical: to the coverage that the Qualified <br />Beneficiary had immediately before the Qualifying Event, or if the coverage has been changed, <br />the coverage must be identical to the coverage provided to similarly situated active employees <br />who have not experienced a Qualifying Event (in other words, similarly situated non -COBRA <br />beneficiaries). <br />2. Who Can Become a Qualified Beneficiary? <br />In general, a Qualified Beneficiary can be: <br />(a) Any individual who, on the day before a Qualifying Event, is covered under a <br />Plan by virtue of being on that day either a covered Employee, the Spouse of a covered <br />Employee, or a Dependent child of a covered Employee. If, however, an individual is <br />denied or not offered coverage under the Plan under circumstances in which the denial <br />or failure to offer constitutes a violation of applicable law, then the individual will be <br />considered to have had the coverage and will be considered a Qualified Beneficiary if <br />that individual experiences a Qualifying Event. <br />(b) Any child who is born to or placed for adoption with a covered Employee during a <br />period of COBRA continuation coverage, and any individual who is covered by the Plan <br />as an alternate recipient under a qualified medical support order. If, however, an <br />individual is denied or not offered coverage under the Plan under circumstances in which <br />the denial or failure to offer constitutes a violation of applicable law, then the individual <br />will be considered to have had the coverage and will be considered a Qualified <br />Beneficiary if that individual experiences a Qualifying Event. <br />The term "covered Employee" includes any individual who is provided coverage under <br />the Plan due to his or her performance of services for the employer sponsoring the Plan. <br />An individual is not a Qualified Beneficiary if the individual's status as a covered <br />Employee is attributable to a period in which the individual was a nonresident alien who <br />received from the individual's Employer no earned income that constituted income from sources <br />within the United States. If, on account of the preceding reason, an individual is not a Qualified <br />Beneficiary, then a Spouse or Dependent child of the individual will also not be considered a <br />Qualified Beneficiary by virtue of the relationship to the individual. <br />Each Qualified Beneficiary (including a child who is born to or placed for adoption with a <br />covered Employee during a period of COBRA continuation coverage) must be offered the <br />opportunity to make an independent election to receive COBRA continuation coverage. <br />2 <br />