Do I have 3 months after my last day being covered by health insurance to sign up for Cobra?

I will lose my health insurance for one month (Dec) secondary to reduced hours a month ago. If I don't pay the Cobra premimium right away, can I pay it at a later date if I need the insurance (ie, I break my leg or something major) and be covered?
--------------------
No, you have 30 days to make up your mind, once the paperwork is sent to you. Your employer has 60 days to send you the paperwork, but most send it within a week. If you take it, you have to pay back to day one. If you decline it, you lose the opportunity forever. You can't "pay later". And it doesn't save you anything to wait the whole 30 days, because if, say, it's two months later, you ahve to pay for the prior two months AND the next month, all at once, or it's cancelled.
Source