Health Benefits Advisor for Employers

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

Does your plan administrator provide qualified beneficiaries with a proper election notice within the required timeframes?

• Yes
• No

Election Notice

After receiving a notice of a qualifying event, a plan administrator must provide the qualified beneficiaries with an election notice, which describes their rights to COBRA coverage and how to make an election. The election notice must be provided to the qualified beneficiaries within 14 days after the plan administrator receives the notice of a qualifying event. If the employer is also the plan administrator and must provide a notice of qualifying event to the plan, the plan administrator is required to provide an election notice to each qulaified beneficiary not later than 44 days after the date of loss of coverage due to the qualifying event, or the date on which the qualifying event occurred.

The election notice is designed to explain the qualified beneficiary's right to elect COBRA coverage and must include the following:

• The name of the plan and the name, address, and telephone number of the party responsible for administering COBRA coverage;
• Identification of the qualifying event;
• Identification of the qualified beneficiaries (by name or by status);
• The date coverage will terminate (or has terminated) if COBRA coverage is not elected;
• An explanation of how to elect COBRA coverage;
• A statement that each qualified beneficiary must be given an independent right to elect COBRA coverage;
• An explanation of the consequences if COBRA coverage isn't elected or is waived;
• What COBRA coverage is available, for how long, and (if it is for less than 36 months) how it can be extended for disability or second qualifying events;
• How COBRA coverage might terminate early;
• Payment requirements, including due dates, grace periods, and the consequences of delayed payment or non-payment;
• A statement of the importance of keeping the plan administrator informed of the addresses of qualified beneficiaries; and
• A statement that the election notice does not fully describe COBRA or the plan and that more information is available from the plan administrator and in the SPD.

The Department of Labor has developed a model election notice that is intended to assist plan administrators of single-employer group health plans in satisfying the election notice requirement. Use of this model notice is not mandatory. However, in order to use it, a plan administrator must appropriately add relevant information where indicated in the model notice, select among alternative language, and supplement the model notice to reflect applicable plan provisions. Items of information that are not applicable to a particular plan may be deleted. Use of the model election notice, appropriately modified and supplemented, will be considered by the Department to satisfy the election notice content requirements of COBRA for single-employer group health plans. This model notice must be modified if used to provide notice with respect to other types of group health plans, such as multiemployer plans or plans established and maintained by employee organizations for their members.

The Department of Labor also has developed an election notice in Spanish.