Help with understanding Qualifying Events and COBRA

Ok so I got laid off at the end of May. As part of my severance my company credited me 3 months prepayment of my COBRA premiums, to pay it through August 31st, at which point I could continue paying the full premium myself or cancel. So far I have not made a payment, so I am halfway through the 30 day payment grace period before they'll terminate my coverage due to non-payment – or I can voluntarily terminate it before then.

I am hoping to enroll in my wife's insurance outside of open enrollment based on the qualifying event of "Losing coverage through your employer," because that is literally what's happened – they were paying my premiums and now they are not – however I'm starting to worry that this may not technically count? I read somewhere that,

"Loss of health coverage due to failure to pay premiums does not count as an "involuntary" loss. So the loss of COBRA in that circumstance would not be counted as a qualifying life event."

So if I'm understanding correctly, my qualifying event actually happened in May when I was laid off and switched from my regular health insurance to COBRA, even though my employer prepayed for the first three months of premiums. Someone please tell me I'm wrong…

submitted by /u/frozenflipflop
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