Someone told me that once you reach 62, you can get COBRA for 36 months until you reach 65. Is this true?

Turning 62 doesn't qualify you for COBRA, but leaving your job does. Congress passed COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, to provide a safety net for employees who lose their insurance coverage under their group health insurance plans after they resign, get laid off or fired (assuming the termination wasn't for "gross misconduct").

Under federal law, you can elect to continue buying health insurance through COBRA at your own expense for up to 18 months -- not 36 months. If your spouse or dependent children were covered by your employer's health plan, you can buy coverage for them as well. Check with your state’s insurance department about programs that provide continued coverage after COBRA expires.

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Health plans subject to COBRA regulations include medical plans; dental, vision and prescription drug plans; drug and alcohol treatment programs, fully insured and self-insured group health plans, including HMOs; Employee Assistance Plans; on-site health care; and Section 125 flexible spending accounts. You can choose to continue any combination of the plans if your former employer offers separate health insurance plans, such as one plan for medical benefits and another for dental or vision, but you must select all or nothing if your employer sponsors one plan with multiple health benefits.

For more detail, ready about why you should know your COBRA rights.

Another possibility is a new program under the federal health insurance reform law called the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, which would subsidize your continued health insurance coverage. But to be eligible, your employer must be accepted into the program. As of early October, about 3,000 employers had been accepted, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.