Question regarding New Jersey Continuation Coverage through Aetna?

I had gotten laid off from my job back in June of 09. Because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, I had been able to receive full coverage. Unfortunately money became really tight come November and I wasn’t able to keep up with my monthly premium. I figured I was at the last few months of the 9 months of coverage so I let it go. Well the company i worked for never took me off and I was still insured until Feb. 2010, where upon i received a letter from my prior company stating Feb 1 my insurance would cancel and that I owed them from the prior months that I didn’t pay. Now a few weeks later I received a letter from Aetna saying that the insurance coverage had been extended for another 6 months, with the letter was a form to fill out and give to my former employer. One of the options to check on the form stated this
” I did not pay the full contunation premium to my former employer when the 9 months of premium coverage ended so my NJ continuation ended. I want to reinstated my NJ continuation coverage. I understand that i must pay the premium from the time my continuation ended to though the present ”

I brought this to my former employer with my check book and they told me they have to look into it with out any answers. Its been 3 weeks now and now they won’t respond to my calls. They realized they messed up keeping my on longer then they should of, and now it feels like their just pushing me to the side to be ignored. I spoke with Aetna regarding this and all they told me was i need to speak to my former employer and had no answer for me when i told them that my former employer doesn’t want me to collect this because it cost him money too. Fluther is there anything I can do that doesn’t involve hiring a lawyer that i absolutely cannot afford.
P.S. Im so annoyed with them now that im thinking that that them keeping me on until Feb. was their own fault and maybe I should make them foot that bill, and just pay from when it actually had gotten canceled.