President Obama has signed legislation extending the deadline for COBRA continuation coverage subsidies, allowing workers who are involuntarily terminated in March to qualify for the program. The Senate approved the legislation, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H. R. 4691), late on Tuesday. Join...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was enacted in February 2009. Among other things, the ARRA provides a COBRA premium subsidy for employees who are laid off or terminated. The subsidy requires employers to pay for 65 percent of a separated employee's COBRA premium, which the...

On Tuesday, President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Obama called the package the "first part" of a larger strategy to help give the nation's economy a boost. While some of the finer details are still being worked out, the package does include...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on the level of scrutiny courts must apply when an employee challenges a denial of benefits and the plan administrator, whether the employer or an insurance company, played the dual role of determining whether the employee was eligible for benefits and paying benefits...

Under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), employers with 20 or more employees must offer employees and their dependents the right to continue their group health coverage if they lose group health insurance coverage because of a “qualifying event,” including...

A new case underscores just how costly a mistake it can be to not provide departing employees with timely notice of their rights under COBRA to continue their group health coverage. PEO Takes on Benefits Responsibilities John Delcastillo, a worker for Texas-based railcar company GLNX, suffered an industrial...

Employees whose group health coverage terminates may have COBRA continuation rights to coverage in certain circumstances. Now the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its final rules on notice requirements under COBRA, which covers employers with 50 or more employees. Because the final rules differ...

Once DOL finalizes these rules, employers will have six months to implement new COBRA procedures. As soon as the new rules are released we will detail what you'll need to do to implement the changes.

Under the federal COBRA law, employees and their dependents who lose health insurance coverage because they're terminated or for other reasons and who work for employers with 20 or more employees are generally entitled to a temporary extension of healthcare benefits. This typically runs up to 18...

For the first time since 1986, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new rules affecting the COBRA notice requirements. COBRA rules affect individuals' rights to continue group health coverage under certain circumstances. For employers the consequences for not giving written notice in accordance...

A recent ruling illustrates that cutting corners in meeting your notice obligations under federal COBRA—the health insurance continuation law—can mire you in an expensive lawsuit and put you on the hook for someone's medical bills. We'll explain what happened and review some simple...

The U.S. Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration has issued a fact sheet to help employees preserve their health care coverage after layoffs or a reduction in hours. It outlines the options available to employees, such as COBRA continuation coverage or special enrollment...

Not giving workers proper notice of their COBRA rights can have potentially expensive consequences for employers—including having to pay an employee's uncovered medical bills, attorneys' fees and penalties. But what happens if you do everything right—and yet the employee never receives...

Under federal law, employers with 20 or more employees must offer continued health plan benefits, at the workers' expense, for a period of time after employment ends. And in California, employers with fewer than 20 employees must also do so. However, under both federal and state regulations, you...

Meeting COBRA election notice requirements can be tricky - and even a minor oversight can potentially be expensive. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor clarifies the process for providing COBRA election notices to households with more than one qualified beneficiary. If several beneficiaries...

Last March we reported on changes coming to the COBRA rules. Here is a quick rundown on the highlights of the updated regulations that take effect January 1. Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to...

A federal court in Delaware has ruled that Hanover Foodsviolated federal law by refusing to offer COBRA benefits to a worker who was fired for leaving onion powder out of a batch of ravioli. The company claimed that Heather Lloynd tried to sabotage the ravioli because she was assigned to work with an...

After a 13-year wait, the Internal Revenue Service has just released its comprehensive regulations covering COBRA health benefits continuation coverage. The new regulations-which are a complex mix of final and so-called proposed rules-clarify several gray areas of the law but don't change the basic...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that you can't deny COBRA continuation coverage to an eligible employee or dependent simply because the person-at the time COBRA coverage is elected-is also covered under another group health plan, such as one provided by a spouse's employer.3 Note that despite...

Giving workers propernotice of their COBRA rights is a common concern for employers.And now a new decision-which highlights the potentially expensive consequences of mistakes-reinforces the need to proceed with caution.Here's a look at the case and four compliance tips. Former Employee Hospitalized...