On May 1, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) revised its model COBRA notices, and accompanying FAQs, to provide information on the interactions between Medicare and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). In the news release regarding these updates, the DOL states the updated notices will help individuals affected by COVID-19 avoid unnecessary health care costs and help them make informed decisions regarding their healthcare coverage.
Under COBRA, group health plans must provide plan participants and beneficiaries certain notices explaining their rights under COBRA. In general, plans are required to send a general notice to participants upon initial enrollment in a group health plan explaining their right to continue coverage under the plan upon the occurrence of a “qualifying event,” which include, but not limited to, termination of a covered employee’s employment, reduction in the hours of employment that causes loss of coverage under the plan, or divorce from the covered employee.
After the plan has been notified that a qualifying event has occurred, it must provide an election notice to qualified beneficiaries (i.e., an individual who was covered by a group health plan on the day before the occurrence of a qualifying event) describing how to make an election of continued coverage under the plan.
The updated notices now include information to address how qualified beneficiaries may enroll in Medicare before, or instead of, electing COBRA when coverage ends under the plan. Below are some examples of these interactions:
Although it’s not mandatory for plans to use these model notices, the DOL considers them to be compliant with COBRA’s notice content requirements. To learn more about COBRA and the updated notices, check out your ComplianceDashboard task!
The information and content contained in this blog post are for general information purposes only, and does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.
