| Additional Changes to COBRA Notices and the Special Enrollment Period |
| This is a follow-up communication to the Compliance Update distributed on May 7, 2014. |
| COBRA Notices |
| As indicated in the previous Compliance Update, the Department of Labor (DOL) released proposed regulations which would eliminate the model COBRA General Notice and Election Notice from the appendices of the DOL COBRA regulations and allow the DOL to publish all subsequent updates to these notices directly to the DOL website. This will simplify the process for updating the model notices going forward. |
| Simultaneous to these proposed regulatory changes, the DOL issued updates to the model COBRA General Notice to include basic information about the Health Insurance Marketplace ("the Marketplace") and COBRA Election Notice to include more detailed information (expanded from the previous revision to the model COBRA Election Notice released in May 2013) about obtaining coverage through the Marketplace as an alternative to electing COBRA coverage. |
| The use of these model notices is not mandatory. However, a plan administrator's use of the model notices (appropriately completed and adjusted) is considered a "safe harbor" and good faith compliance standard. |
| While there does not appear to be any immediate requirement to amend the COBRA General Notice or COBRA Election Notice to include the changes presented in these revised model notices, CONEXIS is currently working to incorporate these revisions to our COBRA General and Election Notices. These updated documents will be available shortly. |
| COBRA Special Enrollment Period |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the availability of a special enrollment period (from May 2, 2014 to July 1, 2014) in the federally-facilitated Marketplace for any individuals eligible for or enrolled in COBRA coverage. State Marketplaces are encouraged to adopt similar special enrollment periods; Covered California, for example, issued its own special enrollment period from May 15, 2014 to July 15, 2014. |
| During this one-time special enrollment period, eligible individuals will be able to enroll in coverage through a federally-facilitated Marketplace plan. COBRA qualified beneficiaries are generally only able to enroll in Marketplace coverage during open enrollment, during an applicable special enrollment period, or once their respective maximum COBRA eligibility periods have been exhausted. |
| Please note: There is no current requirement to provide any dedicated notification to any eligible COBRA qualified beneficiaries to inform them of this limited special enrollment opportunity. |
| If you have any questions or would like more information, contact your CONEXIS Client Services representative. |
