Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the
"ARPA")
1 requires employers to extend
offers of free COBRA coverage to certain individuals for the period
from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. The ARPA then
provides tax credits as means of offsetting the costs of the free
COBRA coverage. The law also requires employers to extend offers of
COBRA coverage to other individuals whose right to COBRA coverage
previously ended.
This blogpost reviews who is eligible for free coverage, how the
tax credits work, eligibility for extended coverage, and some
potential issues pertaining to insurance coverages.
Background
The "COBRA Law"
2 is a federal law that generally