COBRA NOTICE
njjel
1,235 Posts
I think I'm having a bad day! How much notice does the er need to give an ee that their insurance coverage is ending (12 weeks of FMLA has ended) and they will be without insurance and now have the opportunity to elect COBRA?
Comments
Linda
PORK
Linda
The letter is the official document that the employee was 'first informed' of possible/potential medical coverage after termination of employment for their individual medical condition.
PORK
Technically, from the point of eligibility, the employer has 30 days to notify; then the individual has an additional 60, after notification, to decide on the election of COBRA.
Linda
I never wrote that our letter satisfied the federal requirement!!!!!! I wrote that it can be the saving grace of the employer, as being proactive to make sure the ee is well informed and notified ABOUT THE COBRA OPTION. I wrote that it was the 3rd party administrator's responsibility to satisfy the federal COBRA requirement.
PORK
PORK
That is all useless, PORK, in a COBRA hearing. The requirements of the COBR Act are precise and are not open to re-definition by the employer. Employers should follow the law, not attempt to re-define the act and launch out on their own in some method of their own choosing.
You are factually absolutely correct and that is good. What good does it do you to insert words and thoughts that attempt to belittle the facts in my actions as a an HR, supporting employees and employers? A letter (document) with signatures (Dates) for sending and receiving is documentation with specifics that have always been used in the protection of companies' efforts to follow the law, or better yet, to protect the employee's ability to plea "I did not know", if he/she truly has no knowledge of the options available.
Document, document, document has been the path of HRs ever where. No one and not even you knows, the direction that a court or legal hearing might take on any issue. However, we do know that courts lean one way or the other when there is overpowering documentation that can be provided that provides the courts with evidence that a company did everything in their power to make sure the employee is informed of the options available.
Recently, in a Personnel law up-date The U.S. Court of appeals noted there is "an affirmative duty" on the part of the employer to seek additional information if it finds a certification for FMLA incomplete. In the same light, we employers have "an affirmative duty" to make sure our employees know of the company policy and procedures. To go "one better than the law" is smart HR business. Sure, we could stand by and maintain it was the 3rd parties administrator's responsibility to notify the employee of the COBRA option! Usually this would come after the fact of a legal proceeding is underway.
I will always side on the right side of the law and do better than the specifics of the law, whenever possible! Documentation is never useless. Pro-active letters with signatures validating the intent of the letter and an acknowledgement of the employee's receipt and understanding is always helpful.
I have found in my experiences that actions taken to keep employees informed and peaceful tends to help us retain employees and out of attorney offices.
PORK
Well both finally made it!
PORK
I will give you this, though. When I said your initial letter was 'useless', I meant in regard to the requirements of COBRA. I'm sure it does serve some purpose for you.
If you get out in the sun this afternoon, Have a Blistered Day! x:-)
You stated: "...it was the 3rd party administrator's responsibility to satisfy the federal COBRA requirement."
WRONG! It is never their responsibility. You might delegate the authority to them to issue the notifications, but you never delegate the responsibility. That will always rest squarely on your shoulders.
Gene
THANKS AGAIN TN HR for allowing me to clarify the complex worlds that we HRs find ourselves and get so tied up and "hand cuffed" and strangled to death.
It amazes me how with all of my USELESS DOCUMENTATION and attention to lots of details that I find myself with not the first case aligned as a victory for the claimant. I may have one in the future, but I have become so aware through the FORUM of the ability to learn, just maybe I may never get a chance to fail.
PORK
Hummm "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers, now sing "you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run"...................
Your position is indefensible. Cut your losses now.
Gene
Maybe you guys are simply not eating enough PORK.
PORK
NJJEL: In our case, the 12 week notice letter for FMLA would have stipulated their termination date and that would have become the effective date for COBRA coverage. Thus, the answer to your question, if everything else is equal, 12 weeks in advance would have happened in our letter.
PORK
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PoRk: See above. That is your remark. Notice that the subject is "COBRA NOTICE". The question was "How much COBRA NOTICE is needed? Your answer is that you give 12 weeks of advance notice in your FMLA letter. That's plainly absurd as an answer to the question. If anybody was to rely on your advice, they would think your FMLA letter met the requirements of notification. Again, your notice, although real helpful information I'm sure, is utterly useless from the legal standpoint of having met your obligation under COBRA.
What you should have said, but what you are unable often to say, is: "I do not know the legal requirement for notification, but our company mentions COBRA continuation coverage briefly in our FMLA approval letter." Your FMLA letter might also tell them that their leave will be paid out and their parking spot will be reassigned; however, those don't meet legal requirements either. I think NJJEL has her answer now.
My efforts todate have done me well and if given the chance, I might some day write something that might even help you in your multistate operation with many employees. By the way what is the size of your staff? Can we all have a copy of your multitude of job descriptions and an insight as to how you are so well organized so that you can put your finger on every point for research and answer to every strong point in time lines and numbers. Your genius is unheralded!
Lets all go out to church and pray for the IRAQ situation. Good day for a real Blessing from the real center of our world.
PORK
Linda
Does that help?
-Abby
I only ask because FML can put the EE in a conundrum with respect the health insurance and COBRA.
For instance, if your insurance plan requires some level of EE contribution to maintain coverage, it is the EEs responsibility to make those payments while he/she is on FML. If the EE does not make the payments, coverage can be terminated without activating COBRA rights, because the EE is technically still employed.
Then, if the coverage has been terminated during FML, and the EE is finally terminated at the end of FML, there is actually no insurance coverage to continue.
The key, in my opinion, is that the EE has to have actually terminated employment while health insurance coverage is in effect.
If the EE is not yet terminated, then no COBRA notice is due. If the EE has terminated, then you have the 30 days mentioned in this tread to notify.
Do you outsource your COBRA administration? If so, you have 30 days from the date the insurance coverage ended to notify the TPA of the qualifying event. They then have 14 days to get the COBRA election notices in the mail. From that date, the EE has 60 days to elect COBRA, all retro back to day one. Your best bet, however, is to get the COBRA paperwork in the mail ASAP to start their timeclock ticking for the COBRA election.
If you are talking about a simple letter informing the employee that their insurance is going to expire I don't believe that there is any required timelimit under COBRA for that alone.
Hope this helps.