A federally-mandated requirement that states that an employer-sponsored medical care plan must provide that if, as a result of a qualifying event, any employee (or in some cases the spouse or dependent children of an employee) would lose health insurance coverage under the plan, the employee must be entitled to elect to continue his or her coverage under the plan. Qualifying events include termination of employment, divorce, death, and a dependent child ceasing to be a dependent. The name results from the fact that the program was created under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act. The system is designed to prevent employees who are between jobs from experiencing a lapse in coverage.