COBRA ARRA Weekend Updates
Category: 2009 Stimulus
Topics: arra, traviscobra, webcobra
This weekend we will be releasing an update to both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA as part of our continuing effort for ARRA administration. The administration tools we are providing are inspired by our users, our own ideas, and guidance from government administration agencies like the DOL and IRS.
TravisCobra and WebCOBRA have been enhanced with the following two major features:
- Include DOL Model Notice Forms
- ARRA Denial Letter
Include DOL Model Notice Forms
As we first reported, both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA will include the forms created by the DOL for all events after 2/17/2009 and before 12/31/2009. They will also be included on all renotification packets (events 9/1/2008 to 2/17/2009), and alongside all future ARRA Enrollment Forms.
ARRA Denial Letter
When a QB returns their ARRA Enrollment Form or the DOL provided Request for Treatment as an Assistance Eligible Individual, there is a significant possibility they will be ineligible for the ARRA 65% reduction in premiums.
In both system, you will be able to view the QB/PQB record and tell the system to Deny ARRA for the individual. You’ll be asked to enter a reason for the denial; this reason will print on the ARRA Denial Letter.
The letter, which you can preview below, outlines why the QB was denied, and gives instructions to the QB on how the QB can request an appeal from the DOL. By law, the DOL has 15 days to process the QB’s appeal.
To date, no guidance has been providing by the DOL on what their appeal may look like, or what the DOL will provide to the TPA if they overturn the original denial. We’ll post to this blog once we see anything regarding the DOL denial.
What You Need to Do
If you are using WebCOBRA and you have not updated the Cobra Election Notice, you don’t need to do anything.
However, if you either use TravisCobra or you use WebCOBRA and have customized the Election Notice, you will need to add the three paragraphs to the Election Notice as we outlined here.
Software Availability
WebCOBRA will be updated Saturday night in a seamless upgrade process. All ARRA notices created on/after Sunday, March 28 will contain the two model forms.
TravisCobra version 8.3.0.10 is available now – you can download it from the FTP location you downloaded all previous 8.3 updates.
112 Responses to “COBRA ARRA Weekend Updates”
Comments are closed for this article.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Since the rates are not calculating for Elizabeth, are you recommending that the rest of us do not update at this time? When do you expect to have the new release (with these items corrected) ready?
March 30th, 2009 at 10:51 AM
@Daisy: We’ll make sure if you have duplex printing turned on it will have a blank page at the end of both the ARRA forms. Right now they form a nice 4 page packet. Please open a support case if you’d like to track its progress, but we’ll make sure that is added to the system.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:53 AM
@Elizabeth: That report is called the Premium Reduction report and is available in both systems now.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:56 AM
@Demi: We are not recommending anything regarding upgrading. The reason Elizabeth’s rates are not calculating could result from a number of reasons.
March 30th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Can you please post a full sample set of what the initial COBRA notification packet should look like. It seems with so many changes, edits, and etc. I want to make sure I have all in order. Thanks!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
@Lisa: If you will go back to the FTP site, we have published a document that includes and example COBRA Election Notice to show you where to insert those paragraphs.
March 30th, 2009 at 01:09 PM
We entered a test employee in Travis COBRA with an event of Termination on 03/05/09. We also checked the ARRA Stimulus Eligible Box. Although the 35% premium is calculated on the enrollment form, the Premium Computation Form does not calculate the 35%. The Premium Computation Form calculates the 102% only. Is there a fix for this?
March 30th, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Is there an easier way to change a PQB’s Reason Termination code without deleting the entire record? Several of ours are marked reason #1 (Termination) but should be something else.
March 30th, 2009 at 01:17 PM
WEBCOBRA – Because we duplex our letters, would you consider putting the blank sheet in behind all the ARRA forms that were inserted this weekend for ease in printing? All regular COBRA forms have the blank sheet. Thank you.
March 30th, 2009 at 01:46 PM
We ran our update and have started printing our re-notifications. The process is extremely slow. Any suggestions?
March 30th, 2009 at 01:53 PM
I have a problem. We recently added the weekend patch. Before the patch was added, we were able to run a daily report regarding the ARRA subsidy amounts. Now we cannot. My payments that I input today do not show up on a daily report. In fact, when we run the report, an error message comes up that there is no data that matches the dates entered and nothing comes up. However, as a test I decided to run a report for the month and those members that I entered on today’s date show up on that report.
Please advise as to why the members input today do not show up on a daily report but do in fact show up on the monthly report.
Thanks, A. Williams
March 30th, 2009 at 02:14 PM
Hello,
I am trying to modify letters to work with our current format.
I am unable to locate the ARRA DOL Model to modify this, or the ARRA summary letter.
Have users been locked out of these letters?
March 30th, 2009 at 02:22 PM
Where are the DOL forms (the summary and request for treatment as an assistance eligible individual) that are printing with the cobra election notices. If I need to add to them where can I locate them?
March 30th, 2009 at 02:25 PM
We attended one of your webinars last tuesday. During the webinar, I though we saw an example of the Enrollment Form or the Premium Computation Form where the 35% premium was shown. When I ran the new Travis CS update today, the 102% number still shows on these forms. Did we see & hear the webinar wrong or has this not yet been released?
March 30th, 2009 at 02:35 PM
The manually generated coupons for the certified participant, I referenced in my above reply – (ARRA confirmation) are not printing with the 35% rate, they show 100% of the premium. Is there another form or another step to take in order to get correct coupons to generate during this process? This was for a participant that was already enrolled. Thank you.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:03 PM
Why don’t the notices include the subsidized AND non-subsidized premiums as required under the model notices? When asked right after the model notices were released, we were told that the new notices coming this weekend would include that, but do not.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:13 PM
In WebCOBRA I have printed a COBRA notice for a recent qualifying event. The Opening paragraph talks about the “opportunity to reconsider enrolling” as if this was a renotification. This makes no sense at all – why does the system do this for new events?
Is there a way to print a COBRA notice for post 2/17/2009 events that simply informs the participant that they may be eligible for the subsidy without mentioning re enrollment?
Thanks,
- Chuck
March 30th, 2009 at 03:24 PM
@A.Williams: Please contact Travis Support. We are unable to diagnose potential issues over the Blog.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:27 PM
@Jeannette: The ARRA DOL Model Notice and the ARRA Summary Letter are unable to be edited because they are DOL provided forms.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:32 PM
@Shirley: It has been suggested that you have your workstation DLLs replaced. To accomplish this, please contact Travis Support.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:33 PM
@Chuck: If you want, once you re-notify all QBs of ARRA, you can then edit the template to take out the re-enrollment wording.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:37 PM
@Brad @Laura @Daisy @Ben: You can insert Block 39 into these forms to show both the full premium amounts and the ARRA subsidized amounts.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:40 PM
@Demi: In Travis Cobra, a user can change the event for a PQB as long as they have not enrolled yet.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:41 PM
We have Block 39 inserted and the amounts are not showing.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:45 PM
@Cindy: Currently, the DOL notices are not able to be edited.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:48 PM
@Elizabeth: There is an example of the COBRA notification packet that was published in PDF form on the FTP site that was sent out in an email today.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:49 PM
@Elizabeth: Please contact Travis Support. We are unable to diagnose potential issues over the Blog.
March 30th, 2009 at 04:10 PM
@Brad @Laura @Daisy @Ben: You can insert Block 39 into these forms to show both the full premium amounts and the ARRA subsidized amounts.
We are in WEBCOBRA – please let me know how to update this information there. Thanks,
March 30th, 2009 at 04:17 PM
I left a post earlier about sending an Election Notice to someone who was involuntarily terminated and the fact that the system still shows 102% instead of 35% on the Enrollment Form and the Premium Computation Form. I then tried a different way. After I entered a ARRA eligible PQB, I went back into them, clicked on Action, clicked on the PQB ARRA Verify, then checked the Activate ARRA Stimulus (again, all of this before I sent the letter). When I automatically generate a letter, both the Enrollment Form and the Premium Computation Form print with the 35% amount. If a payment comes in, you do not need to go back an to Action and mark them as PQB ARRA Verify. Also, the system is now looking for a 35% payment, which is accurate. I think this work around accomplishes what many of us want which is an Election Notice that will go out with the 35% amount to someone who we know is ARRA eligible (not a re-notification letter).
March 30th, 2009 at 04:20 PM
Block 39 is blank. Can you post it here so we can copy it into block 39.
March 30th, 2009 at 04:30 PM
@Brad: You can find B039 in the PDF document located on the FTP site.
March 30th, 2009 at 04:38 PM
OK, It is dissapointing that we can’t have a seperate notice for “2nd chance” QB’s and a seperate notice for new QB’s after 2/17/2009, but I guess we can send out all of the renotifications and then change the “ARRA Opening Paragraph – COBRA election Notice” to eliminate the renotification wording.
However the other forms sent to new QB’s are still very confusing.
Your systems sends this notice and an ARRA enrollment form to ALL new QB’s even if we have not yet told the system they are ARRA eligible(unlike what the template list says). New QB’s also receive an ARRA election form that does not even give them the option of applying for COBRA but NOT applying for ARRA.
Now that the “Request for Treatment as an AEI ” is part of the package, why not eliminate the ARRA enrollment form completely (ie use the standrad enrollment form for all events) and avoid all that confusion?
- Chuck
March 30th, 2009 at 04:49 PM
I don’t believe I can simply cut and paste from this site as it is in PDF, it has words with the {Macros}, and there are asterisks in the rows.
March 30th, 2009 at 04:59 PM
In the premium computation form we replaced block 2 with block 39 in order to show both amounts, but the schedule of premiums is only showing subsidized amount. How can I edit the {Mxx}? If I am able to edit this we can manipulate the forms to fit our needs.
March 30th, 2009 at 05:59 PM
If we are required to send notices to all QB’s whether the termination was voluntary or involuntary, why is the ARRA option only available for QBs that have an event of termination (option 1)? For example, someone that was terminated due to Reduced Hours, which is involuntary, the Authorize ARRA Stimulus under the Actions Tab is not available.
March 30th, 2009 at 08:55 PM
@Brad, with your work around did you notice if the Enrollment Tier form included the 35%?
Sarah- What is the FTP site stnd for? Also, I know you said the DOL notices can not be edited at this time, but on the form where the member can opt out decline at the top it says plan name, and the other side says plan address- it seems that this should be edited to pick up the information??
March 31st, 2009 at 07:15 AM
The 35% premium is not showing up on the new forms. I don’t want to process all of the letters yet because I have hundreds and I’m not sure what I can do.
March 31st, 2009 at 07:32 AM
We have attempted to test the system from the upgrade. We can not locate where the DOL Model Notice is generated. It does not print in any of our tests.
March 31st, 2009 at 08:29 AM
You state The ARRA DOL Model Notice and the ARRA Summary Letter are unable to be edited because they are DOL provided forms. Can these forms be deleted out of our system? We do not want to use these. Also, when are all the new blocks going to be available under State Letter Writer (20+ emloyees. Our AP keeps bombing out as the system is trying to pull ARRA letters that require these blocks.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:00 AM
@Adella: The FTP site is where TravisCobra customers can download the latest version of the system.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:03 AM
@Justina: Please contact Travis Support. They will be able to walk you through making the ARRA subsidized premiums show up on the forms.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:10 AM
@Lisa: If you were not able to locate the DOL model notices and they have not printed in any of your tests, please contact Travis Support.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:11 AM
@Karen: If you’d like to be able to replace the DOL forms with your own PDF version, please add that to the Travis Ideabook. We will be adding state continuation administration of ARRA to TravisCobra soon, but you may want to open a case regarding the State 2 (20+ employees) with support.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:15 AM
@Elizabeth: Right now that cannot be edited. You have to add the Block in order to show amounts due for both normal and subsidized premiums.
March 31st, 2009 at 09:35 AM
@Daisy: There is a new data element in WebCOBRA called the ARRA Benefit Plan List. It is located on the right hand side of the letters. You can pick this data element up and place it in the letter.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Since the DOL issued “model” notices, we were hoping to change the wording to make it more understandable. With the newest Travis update, we are not able to edit Letters 72 & 73. Could you please make these editable in the Letter Writer or allow us to delete them and add our own versions as additional pages to the ARRA Enrollment Form? (I have added this to the ideabook…if anyone else wants to vote for it! http://ideabook.travisoft.com/ideas/260)
March 31st, 2009 at 10:35 AM
When questions and answers are posted, it isn’t clear if they are relating to WebCOBRA or TravisCobra. Is there someway to indicate this. I’m WebCOBRA and getting confused by the information that pertains to TravisCobra only.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Can you tell me why when I choose the option to notify a whole client about the ARRA stimulas, if someone was still in thier original waiting period but not yet enrolled, it terms there account? In the traiing class I went through it did not mention anything about that, only that if someone was ALREADY termed it would create a new account for them to start as of 3/1/09. Is this how Web COBRA intended or should I call system support? If it was the way it was intended that would be great to know so I dont have to call system support, the hold times are very long right now.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:14 AM
@Chuck: We didn’t remove the ‘form’ part of the ARRA Enrollment Form, but I think that could simplify things. You could edit the ARRA Enrollment Form and alter the language to reference the attached DOL Form.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:33 AM
On the ARRA Enrollment Confirmation form block {B038} is not generating dates or amounts. How do we correct this?
March 31st, 2009 at 11:57 AM
@ Adella, in answer to your question, I did not see an Enrollment Tier form that printed out. Also, the ARRA Enrollment Confirmation printed out with the letters (which is not ideal). It should print after they have sent in an enrollment form and we have verified they are eligible.
We ended up copying Block 2 from the original COBRA Letter Writer into Word, adding a column to the right, then inserting the new {Macros} from the PDF that we printed from the FTP site. We then copied this into the blank block 39 in the COBRA Letter Writer. Now when we print the Involuntary Terminaton Election Notices it seems to work.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Hi:
I have some questions about functionality:
- Could we translate Event 13 to another language? (e.g. English to Spanish) - How the opt-out functionality works? I made some test and the system still showing schedule with the reduction of 65% of premium after 03/01/2009. - We use TravisCOBRA Mapper. The mapper do not show the T/F flag to map into system. Could you let me know if the new upgrade will contemplate this? - When we will receive new upgrade with new DOL letters?
March 31st, 2009 at 01:56 PM
@Rebecca: Thank for utilizing the Travis Ideabook!
March 31st, 2009 at 01:57 PM
@Helen: That’s a great idea. If everyone could specify what product they are talking about that would be very helpful.
March 31st, 2009 at 02:02 PM
@Pedro: Travis Support will be able to help your questions and issues. TravisCobra 8.3.0.10 was released on Friday and included the DOL Model Notices. We sent an email out, but it may have gone to your junk e-mail; however, if you still have the original 8.3 email, the updated patch is located on the same FTP site.
March 31st, 2009 at 02:03 PM
@Adella: Based on the information you gave, it sounds like you do need to call Travis Support. This may be a potential issue.
March 31st, 2009 at 02:05 PM
@Cheryl: Please contact Travis Support on this issue. We are unable to diagnose potential issues over the Blog.
March 31st, 2009 at 02:11 PM
Hello, (this is referring to Travis COBRA)
I am running into a couple of issues with two forms.
On the Premium Computation form – I have updated it to reflect the monthly current premium with both the full amount and subsidized premium amount.
When it gets to the option of payment schedule, it will only print either the full amount or subsidized amount, not both amounts. Will this be fixed soon to accomodate the fact that not everyone be renotifed will be a cut and dry ARRA eligible or not eligible?
Shouldn’t the payment schedule reflect both premiums just like block 39 the ARRA coverage comparison?
On the Optional Enrollent form (form 6) / which allows possible subscribers to choose to drop dependents, and noncore benefits, there is no accounting at all for the ARRA Subsidy.
Again, shouldn’t this information be applied to the enrollment options that are available to all COBRA eligible individuals and ARRA COBRA eligible individuals?
Are there maybe additional macros that can added to add these comparisons correctly?
Thank you,
March 31st, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Just want to know…......Are we having FUN yet! I saw a brokers newsletter that was titled”MArch Madness, COBRA Style”
March 31st, 2009 at 03:44 PM
@Lyn: We are having fun! Unfortunately, we’re about to enter April madness! :)
March 31st, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Is there any where on the new enrollment forms for QB’s to pick a lower plan? I do not see it and need to know how to add that block.
March 31st, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Hi, I am having trouble adding block 39 to the enrollment form. Nothing appears when the form prints ie.. the plans or amounts. How do I add block 39 to show the subsidy amount? I have tried travis support and they said someone on this blog should be able to assist me.
April 1st, 2009 at 09:28 AM
@Mary: Yes, on the enrollment form option page, go to your options, and choose processing option L.
April 1st, 2009 at 09:40 AM
We are using TravisCobra. Is there a certain block we need to add through the letter writer feature so that QB’s can elect a different plan? I don’t think we have processing option L on TravisCobra (or if we do, where would I find it?).
April 1st, 2009 at 10:02 AM
@Mary: Under the Properties menu, choose Options, select Process, Option L.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:06 AM
@Jeannette: This cannot currently be done in the system, but we would like you to please add this to the Ideabook so that we can see if other users would like to be able to accomplish this as well!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:17 AM
@Justina: Block 39 will not work for the Enrollment Form, Form 1, it will only work for the ARRA Enrollment form, Letter 69. Block 39 can also be copy and pasted into the Premium Computation Form, Form 1.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Last week if I entered a QB and indicated to include the ARRA notification, the packet contained everything…normal election packet AND ARRA information. Now, I just get a partial packet & ARRA DOL info. Where is the election form for COBRA, rate information, Premium Computation page, Certificates of Coverage? What am I missing since this upgrade occurred. Thank you.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Since the DOL guidelines for the Model Notices only indicate that Extended Election notices only have to be sent to those who are identified as involuntary terminations, is there any way to only print the letters just for those we identify withuot having to manually print each letter? We have thousands….
April 1st, 2009 at 01:41 PM
While running ARRA re-notification letters for one of our groups who only have 1 active COBRA member at this time, the system only generated a “Open Enrollment” letter. Shouldn’t the system generate more notification information for active COBRA members?
April 1st, 2009 at 01:57 PM
@Brandi: This is an issue that is currently being addressed. If you would like more information on it, please contact Travis Support.
April 1st, 2009 at 01:58 PM
@Kelly: In the next ARRA iteration, 8.3.0.11, the system will allow the user to print the Model Notice, ARRA enrollment Form and the Summary Letter for groups of PQBs or all PQBs.
April 1st, 2009 at 02:11 PM
When will the next upgrade be available. Can you give a little more detail as to how these letters will be generated by groups? Will it be through Manual letters, or the wizard? Will you also be modifying the Summary letter and Model Notice to be editable or have an option not to include these letters with all packets going forward? We have an upgrade to 8.3.10 planned for the weekend, however, if these changes are going to be made pretty quickly we may wait depending on the timing and details of the changes.
Thanks for all of your efforts.
Jodi
April 1st, 2009 at 02:28 PM
@Stacey: Any event can be selected as ARRA eligible.
April 1st, 2009 at 02:57 PM
@Jodi: It will be by utilizing the Manual letters in TravisCobra.
April 1st, 2009 at 02:58 PM
Sorry but I am confused by the Release Notes with the ARRA Release 8.30. Unless I am missing the instructions, I don’t see where we are to add the various different blocks. Some blocks are identified as to where to add but others are not. Can anyone help? Thanks, Donna
April 1st, 2009 at 03:20 PM
Donna: I assume you’re speaking of Blocks 40, 41, and 42. These blocks are ARRA wording from the DOL. The document includes an example of Letter 1, the COBRA Election Notice, and where we believe the wording/blocks should be placed.
April 1st, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Hi there again,
Thank you for all of your help. I do appreciate it.
I have run into two more problems.
1) For a prior COBRA Enrollee who was manually terminated, there are no amounts or benefits showing on the forms. Neither block is printing benefits or amounts. Upon further review of the test people, everyone who had been terminated has an end date in their benefits, and the benefits do not start again 03/01/09. Is this a current problem Travis is aware of and fixing, or what can be done to correct this?
2) For any COBRA enrollee who is active and current right now, the following forms are being generated upon re-notification a) ARRA Open Enrollment Letter (which can be modified to fit DOL Guidelines) b) ARRA Enrollment Form – Form (which is form 69)
The Summary of COBRA Premium Reduction Provisions under ARRA (I think your disclosure form)and the DOL Request to be Treated as an Assistance Eligible Individual are not printing.
Is there going to be an upgrade to this, because the DOL Disclosure notice and ARRA enrollment form are locked, and not printing with the Special Election for Enrolled Subscribers?
Thank you again,
April 2nd, 2009 at 09:39 AM
We just uploaded the new TravisCobra 8.3.10. Where can I find a sample of the Re-notification letters so I can see what we are going to mail. Also, I am still having trouble finding the Option L so that QB’s can move to a lower plan. Could you please explain how I access that? Thank you!
April 2nd, 2009 at 09:47 AM
We have incorporated blocks B041 and B042 into Election Notice 1 as instructed; however when we tried to open the letter and expand the macros we receive the error message ‘Field block 40 not found’; should we not be able to see the blocks included? Have there been other issues or are we possibly missing a step? Thanks for your assistance.
April 2nd, 2009 at 09:52 AM
@Mary:You can find samples of the Re-Notification letters in the PDF document located on the FTP site where you downloaded the 8.3.0.10 patch. You can also find more information on Processing Option L in chapter 9 of the TravisCobra User Manual.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Are voluntary benefits eligible for the subsidy?
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 AM
@Cheryl: For a QB that is enrolled when the Re-notification process is run, they should receive the ARRA Enrollment Form, the ARRA Request Letter, and the ARRA Summary Letter, but if you ran this process before we added the Request and Summary letter to the system, those would not appear since the system didn’t have them yet. If you ran the re-notification process AFTER the ARRA forms were added, please contact Travis Support.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 AM
We do not have an updated manual (if we did it is lost). Is there a place online that we can access this manual?
April 2nd, 2009 at 01:01 PM
@Jeannette: Question 1) You will have to re-add the benefits for the plans to re-activate. Question 2) This will be addressed in the next release, 8.3.0.11.
April 2nd, 2009 at 01:05 PM
@Mary: An updated 8.3 TravisCobra user manual can be found in your TravisCobra data. You can also go to your Help menu and access an online help system.
April 2nd, 2009 at 01:06 PM
@Janet: Can you clarify what you mean by Voluntary Benefits?
April 2nd, 2009 at 01:15 PM
@Kris C: It sounds like you don’t have Block 40. Please contact Travis Support and they will be able to help you through this.
April 2nd, 2009 at 02:10 PM
What I mean by voluntary benefits is like life, dep life, dental….it is 100% paid by the employee. The only elect the coverage if they want it.
April 2nd, 2009 at 02:52 PM
When is release 8.3.0.11 scheduled for ?
April 2nd, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Is version 8.3.0.11 set to release this Friday? We are having the same issue as Jeannette in regard to correct documents printing for enrolled when using the ARRA-renotification wizard. Only the ARRA Open Enrollment Form and ARRA Enrollment Form printed. Letters 72 and 73 did not print.
Thank you for your time.
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:18 PM
@Janet: Our understanding is that dental and vision plans, along with medical plans, are eligible.
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:20 PM
@Lisa @Jon: TravisCobra 8.3.0.11 is being tested. As soon as it is available for release, we will let you know, but as of now, we don’t have a firm release date or time.
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:27 PM
Sarah, and everyone at Travis,
I can not thank you enough for all of your help during this demanding and challenging time.
I appreciate all of your efforts to accomodate the changes and your customers. Your time and effort is noticed and appreciated.
Thank you,
Jeannette
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:31 PM
Is it possible to manually enter a record with event type 13? For example, if we are entering in a takeover client and the participants have already been notified, but are still in their 60 day election period, is there a way to enter these participants into the system so that we can report off of them?
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:36 PM
@Jeannette: Thank you!
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:38 PM
@Kristine: Are you speaking of TravisCobra or WebCOBRA.
April 2nd, 2009 at 04:58 PM
This is a question involving TravisCobra – version 8.3.0.10
We did not install any of the other versions as we were waiting for the update with the DOL notices. We ran our first test today on a small employer. We have an issue with PQBs whose qualifying event dates were after 02/16/09 (notification was after 02/17/09). The re-notification process terminates these PQB’s initial record and creates a new one giving them the extended election period. Per DOL guidance they should not be receiving the extended election period. We tried to call for additional guidance, but after holding for 1 hour and 15 minutes your phone system cut us off. Is there a way to keep these PQBs from having their initial record terminated and a new one created?
April 2nd, 2009 at 08:10 PM
When I am running the renotification wizard I am receiving an error. When I go back and look at the QB it states that I have had a Read Access Error on Module “Setting Premium Due Date” How can I fix this error and complete the renotification process. Thank You. I have about half my letters for this employer group erroring out.
April 3rd, 2009 at 07:34 AM
Sarah I believe my question previously was answered for COBRA CS- we, unfortunately, are working with both systems, since we converted 1/1. In WEBCOBRA, how do we generate letters for enrolled PQB’s only – we are attempting to send letters in batches – with the enrolled going out first (the abbreviated notice) then the Extended Notices,,, our clients have identified those who qualify, but I see no where to indicate this in the system so that we don’t generate letters for everyone who does not qualify. Please assist….
April 3rd, 2009 at 08:11 AM
@R: As you can understand, we’ve been experiencing a large call volume in Travis Support due to the ARRA changes. The issue you described is will be best handled by them because we are unable to diagnose potential issues over the Blog.
April 3rd, 2009 at 09:30 AM
@Kristine: For TravisCobra, no, there is no way to manually enter a record with event type 13.
April 3rd, 2009 at 09:31 AM
@Cindy: Please contact Travis Support. We are unable to diagnose potential issue over the Blog.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Sarah,
I have opened cases online through Travis Support and have had a lot of success, and less waiting time than when I tried to call.
I think this is a great option for anyone who is busy and does not have time to wait on the telephone. I get excellent customer service and response.
I will be waiting for the new release.
Thank you,
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I thought I would share the information regarding online self service for anyone who is interested.
Self Service Login In 2006, Travis Software enabled all of our customers to login to our Self Service Portal where you can add cases, suggest enhancements, and view the status of existing cases. If you have lost your login information, or would like to request a login, please call our Support Department at (281)496-3737.
http://www.travisoft.com/support.html
Also for anyone interested in reviewing ideas and contributing, the Ideabook by Travis is a great place to share suggestions and have them reviewed by other adminstrators.
http://ideabook.travisoft.com/
I have posted ideas and would be interested to see other ideas and suggestions.
Thank you again for everything.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 AM
@Kelly: The feature to send ARRA letters manually will also be included in the next WebCOBRA.com update. The only way to handle non-ARRA qualified QBs is after you run the Re-Notification process, you’ll have to go to the Action tab of everyone they think does not qualify and select to opt out of ARRA.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 AM
@Jeannette: Thank you for your positive thoughts and sharing your experiences with everyone!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 PM
What is the link to the FTP site?
April 3rd, 2009 at 01:49 PM
@Tera: We cannot post the FTP location on the Blog, but once TravisCobra 8.3.0.11, we will be re-sending out an email notice containing the FTP location.
April 3rd, 2009 at 07:04 PM
This is a question involving TravisCobra – version 8.3.0.10
Today we ran Letters>Automatic to flush out all of the letters that were due to print. We wanted to due this so that we wouldn’t have to sift through all the non-commencement letters and automatic term notices to get to the ARRA re-notifications.
68 non-commencement letters printed for individuals that had a qualifying event in January, but failed to return their forms within 60 days.
Then we ran the ARRA re-notification process. We were 68 notices short of what should have printed.
Has this been fixed in TravisCobra 8.3.0.11?
Until this is fixed, can I take the list of people that non-comm’d and reinstate them prior to running the ARRA re-notification again and get the desired result?
April 6th, 2009 at 09:26 AM
@Jeffrey: Please contact Travis Support. We are unable to diagnose potential issues over the Blog.