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COBRA Administration
THE CONSOLIDATED OMNIBUS RECONCILIATION ACT of 1985 (COBRA),
enacted into law in April of 1986, generally provides that
employers who sponsor group medical, dental, vision, flex
and EAP (if it has a medical component like counseling) health
plans must permit covered individuals who lose coverage under
the plan, as a result of certain events, to elect to continue
their coverage under the plan for a prescribed period of time
on a self-pay basis.
Failure to provide notification or failure to adhere to the
COBRA regulations can result in severe penalties and possible
litigation.
The HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT of
1996 (HIPAA) was signed into law in August of 1996. This law
includes important protections for people who have pre-existing
medical conditions or might suffer discrimination in health
coverage based on a factor that relates to an individual’s
health.
Group health plans and insurers are required to provide proper
documentation that certifies the creditable coverage an individual
has earned. This “Certificate of Creditable Coverage”
must be provided automatically when an individual either loses
coverage under the plan or becomes entitled to elect COBRA
continuation coverage, and when an individual’s COBRA
coverage ceases.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL NOTICE is also a requirement.
You must provide this notice to all employees who participate
in your group health plans. This will provide them with useful
information should they lose their coverage.
Reasons why you might consider outsourcing your COBRA Administration:
- If you currently administer the COBRA/HIPAA processes
at your organization, you already know that processing the
required documentation is very complicated and labor intensive!
- Our staff will help you with this intensive process by
giving you the support you need, by taking care of all related
COBRA/HIPAA paperwork and by ensuring that your plan is
administered within the required compliance guidelines.
- Between our Certified COBRA Administrators and our software
vendor, we ensure that you stay in compliance. Benefit Strategies
has developed a program that makes meeting your specific
State and Federal requirements affordable, easy and reliable.
- With Benefit Strategies as your COBRA Administrator, you
have the option of calling our offices to inquire about
activity on your account or checking a participant’s
status via our web site.
- Not only will we support you and your HR staff, we will
also support your employees who have questions regarding
COBRA and all current COBRA participants via our telephone
support network.
- Think about how easy it would be to let your employees
know they can call us directly with inquiries!
Brief Overview of COBRA Services:
- Prepare necessary correspondence to plan participants,
as required
- Collect, record and forward premiums
- Communicate of Open Enrollment plan and rate changes to
COBRA participants
- Interact with carriers
- Provide Internet access for plan sponsors and plan participants
Frequently Asked Questions
Forms and Resources
Please visit our Forms and
Resources page for information, downloads, and answers
to your important questions regarding COBRA Administration.
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For more specific details regarding our services and fees,
please contact our Sales Department at (603) 647-4666 or visit
our Proposal Request page. |