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DENVER (AP) -- Whether a voluntary or forced retirement, many early retirees have a common worry: how to bridge the medical insurance gap until they qualify for Medicare benefits at age 65.

While several options exist, early retirees often are not aware of a required program in their state that can help bridge that gap, even if they are in poor health.

``States are required under federal law to provide some type of purchase option for a health plan, whether a conversion policy through private carriers or a high-risk state pool for un-insurables,'' says Sam Van Why, an academic associate at the College for Financial Planning. ``These options can be very expensive, but it could be much more expensive to risk going without coverage until you become eligible for Medicare.''

Let's say you retire before age 65, whether voluntarily or perhaps because of poor health or to care for someone in your family in poor health. You could obtain coverage under a retiree health benefit program if your employer offers one. However, a declining percentage of employers provide health care coverage for retirees, and many of those that do have boosted premiums and co-payments, or no longer extend the plans to new retirees.

How can you bridge the gap until Medicare if your employer doesn't offer a retiree health plan or terminates the existing retiree program? You have two immediate options, says Van Why.

One is COBRA. This is a federal law that requires employers with 20 workers or more to extend its existing group health care coverage for at least 18 months to workers when they leave. Benefits can be extended to the workers' dependents for up to 36 months. This can be useful, says Van Why, for those situations where a worker retires at age 65 and becomes eligible for Medicare, but whose spouse is younger and needs coverage until they reach 65. Some states require a similar COBRA-like coverage for people who have been working for employers with less than 20 workers.

The major drawback to COBRA, says Van Why, is that you must pay the entire premium costs, plus a two percent administrative fee, which can be quite a shock to people. Also be aware that in the event your employer drops your retiree health care plan after you retire, COBRA will cover you only up to the first 18 months of your retirement. If you have been retired longer than 18 months when your employer drops coverage, you cannot use COBRA at all.

The other immediate option if you retire with no employer-provided retiree coverage is to look for private insurance. This can be a more expensive option than COBRA, though not in all circumstances, says Van Why. What if you have health problems and are uninsurable under a private plan, or your COBRA coverage expires? This is where the state program steps in, he says.

States are required to guarantee that you have some way to buy coverage. In order to become federally eligible you must have 18 months of continuous, creditable health coverage. In addition, you must have used up any COBRA or state continuation coverage available to you; and you must not be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or a group health plan. Finally, you must not have other health insurance; and you must apply to the state Health Plan within 63 days of losing your prior creditable coverage.

States vary in how they do this, but it boils down to two options. First, the state can require that carriers that sell individual plans in your state cannot refuse you coverage or impose any pre-existing condition exclusion period. Typically the company must offer a choice of at least two policies. The premiums can vary depending on your health status and they can be very high.

In addition, or as an alternative to the private carrier option, the state can provide a state-run high-risk pool for people with expensive health conditions. Van Why says that roughly 60 percent of the states provide high-risk pools. You have to meet certain requirements, such as residency and the inability to be secure coverage elsewhere.

The downside to the pools, as it is with private insurance, is the expense. Van Why estimates that premiums for a state pool typically run 150 percent of what a standard individual premium would be.

Beyond these two options, you may find others. California, for example, permits extended coverage under your employer's plan beyond the COBRA limits until you become eligible for Medicare if you meet certain conditions. Among the conditions: You must be at least age 60 and have worked for your former employer for at least five years.

Van Why says a good place to see what options your state offers is to go to a privately funded Web site, http.www.healthinsuranceinfo.net which produces ``A Consumer Guide for Getting and Keeping Health Insurance'' for each state. Pick your state and go to the section in the table of contents that asks, ``What plans have to let me in and what can I be charged?''

After reviewing this site, Van Why recommends that you double-check the options with your state insurance department.

Van Why notes that bridging the health care gap could become more difficult for early retirees if Congress raises the eligibility age for Medicare beyond 65, which has been proposed. Careful planning is a must.