Extended Election News Today

Who Needs to Know Why It Matters The May 31 deadline to notify workers about new COBRA continuation coverage rights is rapidly approaching. Many employers still have questions about who should receive this notice. This alert provides a step-by-step guide to help answer this question. By now youre aware that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law by President Biden on March 11, provides a six-month COBRA subsidy for individuals who lose health coverage due to an involuntary termina...

Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the "ARPA") 1 requires certain employers to offer free COBRA coverage to certain individuals between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. The ARPA provides tax credits to employers to offset the cost of the COBRA coverage. The right to free COBRA coverage extends to some individuals whose right to COBRA coverage previously ended. The original version of this blogpost, written shortly after passage of the ARPA, reviewed eligibility free cov...

of COBRA Premium Assistance Provisions under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (including a “Request for Treatment as an Assistance Eligible Individual” Form) The “summary” portion of this notice must be included with all three notices listed above: (i) the General Notice; (ii) the Notice in Connection with Extended Election Period; and (iii) the Model Alternative Notice. The “request” portion enables individuals to request premium assistance or to discontinue it. Next Steps and...

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. The Department of Labor ("DOL") has issued model notices regarding COBRA premium assistance (a/k/a COBRA subsidies).  As we wrote about here, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the "Act"), Congress sought to enable qualifying individuals - known under the law as "Assistance Eligible Individuals" or "AEIs" - to continue their healthcare coverage by subsidizing their COBRA premiu...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: On April 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued welcome guidance–including eagerly-anticipated model notices–to help employers and their COBRA administrators implement the temporary six-month (April 1 to September 30, 2021) COBRA premium subsidy provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”) with respect to certain individuals who have lost or who will lose employer-sponsored group health coverage due ...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: As we discussed in a previous article, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), provided premium assistance and an extended election period under COBRA and similar state laws for “assistance eligible individuals” (AEIs). Employers were required to provide certain notices to individuals regarding the premium assistance and extended election period, and the Department of Labor (DOL) was directed to issue model notices for such pu...

As detailed in our March 17 Alert, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) provides for a temporary 100 percent COBRA subsidy for eligible individuals whose qualifying event was an involuntary termination of employment or reduction in hours. The subsidy under the ARP is in effect from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. The ARP makes the subsidy available for "Assistance Eligible Individuals." An assistance eligible individual is a COBRA-qualified beneficiary who meets the following ...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Seyfarth Synopsis: As discussed in our March 11, 2021 Alert, Congress has made another avenue of health coverage more accessible by fully subsidizing the cost of COBRA coverage from April 1 - September 30, 2021 for individuals who lost their health coverage due to an involuntarily termination or a reduction in hours under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).  On April 7, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) published FAQs to f...