(b) For purposes of this section, the words ''continuation coverage'' shall mean coverage under the health benefit plan which meets the following requirements:

1. (1) The coverage shall consist of coverage which, as of the time the coverage is being provided, is identical to the coverage provided under the health benefit plan to similarly situated beneficiaries with respect to whom a qualifying event has not occurred. If coverage under the health benefit plan is modified for any group of similarly situated beneficiaries, the coverage shall also be modified in the same manner for all individuals who are qualified beneficiaries under the health benefit plan pursuant to this subsection in connection with such group.
2. (2) The coverage shall extend for at least the period beginning on the date of the qualifying event and ending not earlier than the earliest of the following:

(vi) a proceeding in a case under Title 11, United States Code, commencing on or after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-six, with respect to the employer from whose employment the eligible employee retired at any time.

In the case of an event described in clause (vi), a loss of coverage shall include a substantial elimination of coverage with respect to a qualified beneficiary described in paragraph (ii) of subsection (k) within one year before or after the date of commencement of the proceeding.

(j)

1. (1) The carrier shall provide, at the time of commencement of coverage under the health benefit plan, written notice to each eligible employee and spouse of the employee, if any, of the rights provided under this section.
2. (2) Each eligible employee or qualified beneficiary is responsible for notifying the carrier of the occurrence of any qualifying event described in clause (iii) or (v) of subsection (f) within sixty days after the date of the qualifying event and each qualified beneficiary who is determined, under Title II or XVI of the Social Security Act, to have been disabled at the time of a qualifying event described in clause (ii) of subsection (f) is responsible for notifying the carrier of such determination within sixty days after the date of the determination and for notifying the carrier within thirty days of the date of any final determination under such title or titles that the qualified beneficiary is no longer disabled.
3. (3) The carrier shall notify (A) in the case of a qualifying event described in clause (i), (ii), (iv), or (vi) of subsection (f) of which the carrier has actual knowledge, any qualified beneficiary with respect to such event, and (B) in the case of a qualifying event described in clause (iii) or (v) of subsection (f) where the eligible employee notifies the carrier paragraph (2) of this subsection, any qualified beneficiary with respect to such event, of such beneficiary's rights under this subsection.
4. (4) For purposes of paragraph (3) any notification shall be made within fourteen days of the date on which the carrier obtains actual knowledge of the qualifying event, and any such notification to an individual who is a qualified beneficiary as the spouse of the eligible employee shall be treated as notification to all other qualified beneficiaries residing with such spouse at the time such notification is made.
5. (5) The carrier may require that all notices required by this subsection be issued to qualified beneficiaries by the eligible small business or by an intermediary.

(k)

1. (i) For purposes of this section, the words ''qualified beneficiary'' shall mean, with respect to a eligible employee under a health benefit plan, any other individual who, on the day before the qualifying event for that employee, is a beneficiary under the plan as the spouse of the eligible employee or as the dependent child of the employee; provided, however, that in the case of a qualifying event described in clause (ii) of subsection (f), the words ''qualified beneficiary'' shall also include the eligible employee.
2. (ii) In the case of a qualifying event described in subsection (f)(vi), the words ''qualified beneficiary'' shall include an eligible employee who had retired on or before the date of substantial elimination of coverage and any other individual who, on the day before such qualifying event, is a beneficiary under the plan as the spouse of the eligible employee, as the dependent child of the eligible employee or as the surviving spouse of the eligible employee.
3. (iii) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any health benefit plan issued to an eligible individual or eligible small business with only one eligible employee or with greater than nineteen eligible employees.
4. (l) In any circumstance in which more extensive coverage than that provided by this section is required pursuant to any provision of the General Laws or any law of the United States, the health benefit plan shall satisfy such other provision insofar as it requires more extensive coverage.