As a result of a divorce setlement, my husband needs to pay my health insurance through his company.

That time will soon end.

How long do I have after that date to enroll in some sort of COBRA plan to prevent any lapse in coverage before I arrange for my own health insurance?

What would happen if my original coverage were to lapse before I had filled out a COBRA application and to require treatment?

Would such treatment be covered retroactively if it were to occur within 1 or 2 months of my original health care plan expiring?

Assuming that your plan is subject to COBRA, your time period is 60 days.

As for your second question, "What would happen if my original coverage were to lapse before I had filled out a COBRA application and to require treatment?", that is more difficult to answer. It depends on the dates between the loss of coverage and the expense date. The key is you have 60 days to get coverage, so my advice is to get it right away.

This link should give you a complete overview of what you need to know. Good luck.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.html

Be careful. Your qualifying event was your divorce. The employer can (and usually does) count the COBRA period from the qualifying event. So, you may not have any COBRA left. You need to talk to that employer.