Is there any other option other than Cobra for those WFR? I worked for Nokia 16 years and was laid off on this June. This has always been my biggest fear of getting laid off, not having healthcare . I heard the alcatel lucent people had lifetime health insurance coverage after 17 year’s service.
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If not doing COBRA (or when COBRA runs out), there is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a.k.a. Obamacare. It may have expensive deductibles, but at least you will have coverage. If you are healthy, I think there are also private insurers as well. If you are religious, you might look into Medishare plans.
Overall, there are options. It's likely that none will be as affordable or comprehensive as the company plan, but you can get some kind of coverage to keep you out of medical bankruptcy.
Sorry to hear of the layoff. No one is safe.
I never heard of a health insurance plan after a period of service. Not even a retiree health plan. Certainly, no plan for the laid-off. My former company which is now Honeywell had many retirees on the plan and they pulled it. I think only government jobs still have this type of benefit. Plus, many of those have pensions. I was one of the last hires that qualified for the pension Lucent at the time.
Sorry to hear you are getting laid off. I don't think that is true regarding ALU giving lifetime of health insurance. At least not for USA. They did have a program for laid-off employee and their spouse at one time, but they took that away a long time ago. They kept taking away more and more benefits just like when they stopped contributing to the 401K plan and when they froze the pension plan. There is an "f_ALU" googlegroups that you might be able to join. Not sure what proof is required to join the group but you can ask your questions there once admitted into the group. Hope this helps. Best of Luck!