In-house COBRA administration

Yahoo · June 2004

Okay, guys - looking for input. I just began working for a new co. as a one-person HR. I come from big corporate HR, so I'm having to adapt to doing things myself rather than outsourcing.

Question is - how many of you administer COBRA in-house? Pros or cons?

My co. will soon be required to comply with all of this fun stuff & I want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head.

Thanks!

mushroomHR · June 2004

We outsource. I prefer not to incur any liability for mistakes that could be made. COBRA can be a little confusing so I'll let my expert handle it for me. Our COBRA experts have an attorney on retainer and they keep up with all the new laws and regs because that is their sole function. I have many other things to keep up with: FML, ADA, etc., so I'll pass COBRA on to someone else. To me it's worth the small amount of money we pay them each year to do this. Good luck.

Yahoo · June 2004

Thanks for sharing your thoughts - can't say I disagree. Do you use someone local to you? Just out of curiosity, how many employees do you have?

mushroomHR · July 2004

We have 180 employees and use a local COBRA administrator. I've been using them for about five years. We do have many ex-employees/dependents who choose COBRA so the outside administration has been good for me.

janetc · July 2004

We do our COBRA in-house, but then that is part of what we do as a company. In fact, that is one of the areas I handled before moving to HR, so I have a pretty good understanding of COBRA.

Even with that though, there are some tricky issues that come up occasionally. I've found that having some good resources and checking the IRS website, you can just about answer any question you might have. I've also found that the HR professionals I work with (our clients)have a good understanding of COBRA as well,so I guess I've just assumed that most HR professionals would at least have some knowledge of the law.

However, it's been my experience, (both for our clients and in-house) that because the COBRA premiums are high, most individuals do not elect coverage.

Good luck!

bsa · June 2004

We have 50 active employees and administer COBRA inhouse. Rarely do we have an ex-ee elect COBRA because it is too expensive. We have very few dependents on our health plan because of the expense, so minimal COBRA exposure there.

hr traci · July 2004

Our company has just under 100 employees and we moved the COBRA admin. in house a few years ago - I was nervous about having to administer it myself but it really is not too bad. Given that our COBRA premiums are pretty expensive, there aren't that many that end up taking it.

As long as you are comfortable setting up a few tracking spreadsheets and keeping abreast of changes in the Cobra law, it is manageable.

Some other places for help:
Our insurance broker offers many helpful resources (cobra seminars, sample forms, etc.), and your payroll or HR software may include an area for tracking COBRA.

GOOD LUCK!

marc · July 2004

64 EEs and we outsource this. As others have said, I don't want the liability for a mistake as to dates or forms, etc. It is relatively inexpensive in my opinion, for the comfort it provides.

Yahoo · July 2004

That's kind of my thought, too. Do you use a local service or do you know of anyone good on a national level?

marc · July 2004

Love to give a reference to someone in Kansas - this from a former Kansas resident.

The company we used just changed their name. Now they are called Infinisource Cobra Compliance.

1-800-300-3838 is the phone number - web site is:

[url]www.benefitsolved.com[/url]

They are national, I think located in the East. We have been happy with their service.

Good luck yahoo.

Yahoo · July 2004

Great! Thanks!

TN HR · July 2004

450 ee's. I use Ceridian and they are great! The web interface is awesome. They handle all of the notifications, enrollments, billing, etc. Plus, they have some sort of compliance guarantee where if you get audited and for some reason fined for being out of compliance with COBRA, they pay it.

I highly recommend them!

Gene

In-house COBRA administration

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