COBRA

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Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The deadline extensions echo relief issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, but apply to a more limited group of individuals. The…

The Biden Administration recently announced that the COVID-19 National Emergency will end on May 11, 2023. This means that the requirement to extend various benefit plan deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end as well.

By way of brief background, early during the pandemic, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury adopted relief pursuant…

Remember the DOL/Treasury relief that tolled the COBRA election and payment deadlines for up to one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic (referred to below as “Tolling Relief”)? If you have been wondering whether, under that relief, a qualified beneficiary may wait one year to elect COBRA and then wait another year to make their…

The IRS just released some new supplemental guidance on the COBRA premium subsidy in the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”). IRS Notice 2021-46, released July 26, 2021 provides additional color on a handful of discrete subsidy issues that had been addressed in earlier guidance but still caused some confusion. The guidance, in Q&A format, addresses:…

Over the last few months, employers and plan administrators have concentrated on identifying qualifying individuals eligible for COBRA premium assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”), sending out proper notices, and collecting election forms. Now that the dust has settled on the first round of election notices, employers and plans have…

On May 18, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-31 (the “Notice”) providing guidance on the temporary 100% COBRA premium subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”), summarized generally here.  The Notice addresses how to calculate the premium subsidy and the corresponding tax credit available to premium payees, as well as the…

One important question that arises when determining whether an individual is eligible for the COBRA premium subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”) is whether the employee has experienced an involuntary termination of employment.  (See our prior blogs on the ARP subsidy, here.) The IRS’s recent Notice 2021-31 (the “Notice”) provides…

Today, the Treasury Department and the IRS released detailed questions and answers providing guidance on various implementation issues related to the COBRA premium subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP).

By way of background, ARP includes a 100% COBRA premium subsidy for qualifying individuals during periods of coverage from April 1, 2021…