Dumber COBRA question?

MrCreosote

Full-time employee will finish work today and go back to school full-time. He will have insurance through school in 2 weeks. Since he has 60 days to choose COBRA coverage, he has not elected it, thinking that he will be able to do so if he needs it in the next two weeks. I think he's right, but I feel uncomfortable telling him so. Do you think he's doing the right thing?

LindaS

I would never "tell" an employee what to, or not to, do but provide them with the proper information to allow them to make the decision. The information you gave him is correct, as long as he knows that should be need to use the insurance within the next 2 weeks, he will need to elect and pay for the coverage.

NaeNae55

Even if he chooses not to elect COBRA, the courts have allowed participants to come back and elect provided they do so within the 60 day period. (Though I would not point this out to the employee.) So even if he decides not to elect, he can change his mind if the school insurance doesn't work out.

Don't give advice to your employees or ex-employees. Just give them accurate and complete information as required by law, and let them decide. You never know when your advice will be wrong because you yourself didn't have all the facts. In that case you might actually harm the employee. It is better to avoid the liability and let them be responsible for themselves.

Good luck!

Ethel

>Even if he chooses not to elect COBRA, the courts have allowed
>participants to come back and elect provided they do so within the 60
>day period. (Though I would not point this out to the employee.) So
>even if he decides not to elect, he can change his mind if the school
>insurance doesn't work out.
>

Do you know where I could get further info re the court decisions? It appears that for 60 days, no election is absolute.

NaeNae55

Sorry. I never remember where I read these things. As I have pointed out on this forum before, I have the world's worst memory since I passed 40. I feel fortunate that I remembered that there was a court case. x:D Perhaps one of the lawyers on this site can help.

Good luck!

Pearce

You can download the IRS Notice 98-12 "Deciding Whether to Elect COBRA Health Care Continuation coverage After Enactment of HIPAA" and provide it to your terminating employees or those that ask you questions regarding whether or not they should elect COBRA coverage. You can obtain this from the IRS or DOL web sites.

System

I have always chosen to be completely honest with the individual. I tell them what their deadline is for electing COBRA after their receipt of the COBRA notification. I also tell them that they can retro the decision after reviewing their medical expense experience during the election period and can choose to elect COBRA if their expenses have exceeded the amount that their premiums would be for that time period. I have no obligation to the (self insured or otherwise) company to withhold this information from the individual. I also advise them of the rule regarding a break in coverage and an admonition that they should consider the effect of this on 'pre-existing conditions'. I sleep better this way.