Final COBRA Notice Regulations Issued

On May 26, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor issued final regulations that specifically delineate the COBRA notice content and timing requirements that employers and health plan administrators must satisfy.  COBRA (which stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) generally requires employer group health plans to provide the opportunity to elect to continue coverage under the plan at group rates for a limited time to health plan participants who would otherwise lose coverage as a result of the occurrence of certain events.

The final regulations generally require that a written general notice of COBRA continuation coverage rights be provided to each employee within 90 days after the date the employee's coverage begins under the health plan.  In addition, the rules generally require that the plan administrator must provide to each qualified beneficiary a notice of that individual's right to elect COBRA continuation coverage within 44 days following the date the qualifying event occurred.  Sample notices are included in the final rules for both the general COBRA notice and the notice of the right to elect COBRA continuation coverage.

The final regulations also provide guidance about when and how employers must notify a health plan participant of his or her right to elect COBRA continuation coverage upon the occurrence of certain events, as well as circumstances under which employees must inform their employer of events that have occurred that commence eligibility for COBRA continuation coverage.

The final regulations will apply to COBRA notice obligations that arise on or after the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after November 26, 2004 (e.g., for calendar year plans - January 1, 2005).

To view the Department of Labor's final COBRA notice rules, please follow this link.  For the text of the model COBRA notices, please see the model general notice and the model election notice.  In order to view the Department of Labor's press release regarding the final regulations and model notices, please follow this link.


To discuss this matter with your contact in the Employee Benefits Group at Ice Miller, please use this link to access our directory of attorneys.  If you do not have a contact in the Ice Miller Employee Benefits Group, please feel free to contact Christopher Sears, Melissa Proffitt Reese or Janine Bosley, who prepared this article.

This publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice.  The reader must consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader's specific circumstances.

Ice Miller is a full-service law firm with offices in Chicago, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.  The 27 employee benefits professionals of Ice Miller provide legal and consulting services for retirement and health and welfare benefits and executive compensation to public and private employers, financial institutions, insurance companies and other types of benefit service providers.
 
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