I recently received a certification of Health Insurance Coverage from my health insurance carrier(BlueCross BlueShield dated 12/7/01. The problem is that my coverage ended on 10/01/01 without me reciving any type of COBRA notice. This happened despite my repeated phone calls in an attempt to find out the ending date of my coverage. I even had prescriptions filled as late as Nov. 30th under the same policy. What can I do?

Contact your employer because he had a legal obligation to provide you with a COBRA notice. I don't know what happened, i.e., whether the notice was sent but was lost in the mail or it was an administraticve error. However, I encourage you to contact your employer, explain the situation and see what can be worked out. Often times, in situations like this, the employer will allow the former employee to elect retroactive coverage provided the employee pays the past premium due. This makes the employee whole because he is given coverage retroactive to the date his coverage as an active employee ceased and he is in the same "place" he would've been had he received the COBRA notice and elected coverage in the time period allowed.