NEW - How did COBRA rules change due to the COVID-19 outbreak?
On May 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Labor (DOL) published a rule extending certain COBRA timeframes due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The rule extended the COBRA election period to 60 days from the end of the outbreak period (yet to be determined) instead of 60 days from receiving a COBRA notice. This ruling applies to employers with 20 or more employees who are subject to COBRA. The qualified beneficiary who elects COBRA within the extended time period will be enrolled retroactively and required to pay multiple months of COBRA coverage in order to be enrolled. The individual would owe premium for COBRA coverage for the entire period beginning with the date they lost job-based coverage. If employers have additional questions about COBRA, or other lines of insurance, they should contact legal counsel or their benefits consultants. For employers with fewer than 20 employees (for fully-insured and Fixed Funding Solutions plans): terminated employees may qualify for other continuation coverage. Please consult the plan documents for more information.