# Minnesota — State employment law headcount triggers that deviate from federal thresholds

For Minnesota, law category is continuation coverage; state law name is Minnesota Mini-COBRA; state threshold is 2; federal threshold is 20; key differences is lower threshold (2 vs 20), mirrors federal COBRA duration (18 months), continuation coverage must be identical to coverage at time of qualifying event, recorded from its source on 2026-08-14.

- **State:** Minnesota _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Law category:** continuation coverage _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **State law name:** Minnesota Mini-COBRA
- **State threshold:** 2 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Federal threshold:** 20 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Key differences:** lower threshold (2 vs 20), mirrors federal COBRA duration (18 months), continuation coverage must be identical to coverage at time of qualifying event _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Coverage / scope:** Up to 18 months _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Fewer than 20 employees Duration: Up to 18 months Premium: Up to 102% of the group rate Key Detail: Mirrors federal COBRA duration. Employees must be notified within 30 days of the qualifying event and have 30 days to elect coverage. Minnesota Employer Size: 2–19 employees Duration: Up to 18 months Premium: Up to 102% of the group rate Key Detail: Continuation coverage must be identical to the coverage the employee had at the time of the qualifying event.

## Source

- https://hrcertification.com/blog/state-mini-cobra-laws-2026-biid1000358

Last verified: 2026-08-14. Review by: 2027-02-10.
Part of [State employment law headcount triggers that deviate from federal thresholds](https://referencesource.org/state-employment-law-headcount-triggers/).