WebCOBRA is ARRA Enabled!
Category: 2009 Stimulus
Topics: arra, stimulus, webcobra
WebCOBRA has been updated and is now ready to process the new COBRA administrative requirements of the 2009 ARRA (stimulus bill).
Changes have been made throughout the system allowing Client/Employers to notify QBs of their potential qualification for the 65% Government Subsidy. Changes include:
- Ability to re-notifiy QBs of their ability to enroll in COBRA.
- Ability to notify QBs of their ability to change COBRA Coverage.
- Ability to apply a 65% government subsidy to QBs premiums and report back to the Government the subsidies that were applied.
To accomplish these changes, you will find modifications throughout the system, including a new ARRA Re-Notification Wizard! These changes will allow you to re-notify, confirm, and add QBs as ARRA Stimulus Authorized, automatically print the correct ARRA notices, and apply the appropriate subsidy amount to the QB premiums.
We have also prepared a document that will instruct you on how the four new COBRA ARRA letters can and will print.
Also, make sure to check out our previous posts for more information on ARRA COBRA Election Packets and ARRA Implementation Details.
36 Responses to “WebCOBRA is ARRA Enabled!”
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March 8th, 2009 at 10:31 PM
1)I see for travis COBRA there will be a way to notify everyone not just terminated, is there a way to do that in Web COBRA?
2)Will both rates subsidy and non subsidy be on the enrollment forms. I ask this because someone may be involntarily termed but does not want the subsidy, e.g. over the wage rule, is eliglbe for other coverage like Medicare, but still wants COBRA as a secondry plan.
3)How do I set up a severnce subsidy and the gov subsidy. What do I do if someone is on severence where the comp. is paying 50& of the cost of COBRA for 3 months, so the QB actually only has to pay 35% of the 50%. Is there a way in Web COBRA to set this up?
March 9th, 2009 at 08:12 AM
There is a paragraph that generates from the regular COBRA notice that goes like this: ” If you do not elect to continue your health care coverage by completing the enclosed “Enrollment Form” and returning it to us, your coverage under the Plan will end on 03/01/2009 due to : Termination on the qualifying event date of 09/02/2008.”
The date 03/01/2009 does not seem to apply to people who have not previously elected. How do we go about changing this?
March 9th, 2009 at 08:26 AM
@Adella: 1) In WebCOBRA it will re-notify all events, including secondary events, where a Termination occured between 9/1/2008 and 2/17/2009. To do otherwise will be a manual process. 2) No, only the subsidized rate will appear. The QB can opt out of the subsidy by having the user click ARRA Opt Out on the Actions tab. Furthermore, is the QB is eligible for Medicare then he/she cannot receive the subsidy. 3) You setup the subsidy as you normally have in the past, WebCOBRA takes care of the rest.
@Yelena: Change the data element that is now “Continuation Coverage Start Date” to “Original Coverage End Date”
March 9th, 2009 at 08:49 AM
@ Jesse
I just checked and the data element is already the “Original coverage end date” but yet it still pulls the March 1st date. Help!?
March 9th, 2009 at 08:52 AM
@Yelena: We aren’t able to diagnose support issues on the Blog. Please contact Travis Support regarding this issue. Thanks!
March 9th, 2009 at 09:24 AM
What letter is Web COBRA suggesting I send to currently enrolled QB’s that are eligilbe- to inform them of the reduced premium. Is there one out there?
On a side note- I do agree with Sarah. I know once I look over the notice I will have that question as well. I have seen a lot of questions here from others that saved me a lot of time not having to call support, which I was on the phone holding for 35 mins before hanging up on Friday. But I do want to thank Jesse and anyone else at Travis for assisting all of us with our question on the blogs, it has been a great support for our company!!
March 9th, 2009 at 09:45 AM
@Adella: The letter you need to send to existing Enrolled QBs is the ARRA Enrollment Form. This enrollment form will contain language explaining what they need to do in order to enroll in the government subsidy.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Jesse, says above there is an opt out option under the action tab. I have looked today and I do not see that option, only ARRA eligible.
March 9th, 2009 at 01:54 PM
@Adella: Once you mark the QB as ARRA Eligible on the Action tab, there will be an option that states “Opt Out of the ARRA Stimulus Subsidy.”
March 9th, 2009 at 01:56 PM
We have a question that has come up – an employee was terminated and did not elect cobra coverage the first time around and now has health coverage with their current employer. The employee cannot drop his current coverage and elect cobra coverage and apply for the subsidy when we send the notice to those that declined – can he? Thanks
March 9th, 2009 at 02:05 PM
@Mary Ruth: Our understanding of this is that since he is now eligible and covered under another plan, he would not be able to Re-elect under ARRA.
March 9th, 2009 at 03:05 PM
I’m I correct in that there is not a wizaerd to pull existing enrolled QB’s? We will have to look at each record and order them individually?
March 9th, 2009 at 03:55 PM
@ Lyn: The Involuntary Term Re-Notification Wizard will pull existing enrolled QBs
March 9th, 2009 at 03:57 PM
We have an “odd day plan” meaning when someone terms we stop coverage at the end of their pay period and their 1st month of COBRA is prorated. We have been told by advisors that that for us the re-offer and subsidy will have to have a start date of February 17th not March 1st. However everything I see in WebCOBRA is only set up for March 1st.
March 9th, 2009 at 04:30 PM
According to the Department of Labor (see below) people are not “ineligible” if their AGI exceeds these amount it just means they may have to repay some or all of the money… the letters are very misleading and could cause many problems for employers.
Income limits: If an individual’s modified adjusted gross income for the tax year in which the premium assistance is received exceeds $145,000 (or $290,000 for joint filers), then the amount of the premium reduction during the tax year must be repaid. For taxpayers with adjusted gross income between $125,000 and $145,000 (or $250,000 and $290,000 for joint filers), the amount of the premium reduction that must be repaid is reduced proportionately. Individuals may permanently waive the right to premium reduction but may not later obtain the premium reduction if their adjusted gross incomes end up below the limits. If you think that your income may exceed the amounts above, consult your tax preparer or contact the IRS at www.irs.gov http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/fsCOBRApremiumreduction.pdf
March 10th, 2009 at 08:04 AM
Sarah, you told me to send the enrolled QB’s just the enrollment form, if I run the The Involuntary Term Re-Notification Wizard will it send them the whole package or just the enrollment form for those that are currently enrolled?
Lyn Says: March 9th, 2009 at 03:05 PM I’m I correct in that there is not a wizaerd to pull existing enrolled QB’s? We will have to look at each record and order them individually?
Sarah Knight Says: March 9th, 2009 at 03:55 PM @ Lyn: The Involuntary Term Re-Notification Wizard will pull existing enrolled QBs
Elisabeth Says:
March 10th, 2009 at 08:36 AM
I am missing something, I do not have anything under the action tab for currently enrollees that have accepted the stimlus
March 10th, 2009 at 09:08 AM
@Adella: The Involuntary Term Re-Notification Wizard will send currently Enrolled QB’s only the enrollment form.
March 10th, 2009 at 09:18 AM
@Camille: You can re-word the letters as you see fit in the IWP.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Has anyone noticed that everyone who was terminated after 09/01 is not on a clients renotifcation list? I have found a number of examples. Don’t know why any of these employees would not be there.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:38 AM
@Helen: Please contact Travis Support. There could be a number of reasons your employees are not showing up.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:32 AM
I have read through the blogs and have seen references to ordering secondary notices for anyone with an event date after 02/17/09 but I haven’t seen any information on where I would do this. Is this function in webCOBRA already or is this something that will be coming? I also wanted to thank everyone at Travis for all of your time on this.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:56 PM
There is an event code added in WebCOBRA “ARRA Involuntary Termination.” When I try to use this event code for an involuntarily terminated employee with a termination date of 2/28/09 I get the following system message “IN ORDER TO SELECT THE INVOLUNTARY TERM EVENT TO MANUALLY RE-NOTIFY A QB, THE QB MUST HAVE AN EVENT DATE BETWEEN 9/1/08 AND 2/17/09.” I called into the support area and was told that this is for QB’s already in the system that you wish to renotify not new QB’s. Why would I go to the QB add wizard to re-notify existing QB’s? Why is an event code of “ARRA Involuntary Termination” added to the QB add wizard if you can’t use it for those QB’s involuntarily termed on a going-forward basis? We currently have had to ask all of our clients to notify us which of their QB’s have been involuntarily terminated since 9/1/08. The hope is that they will not have to continue doing that in the future; that WebCOBRA will have an event code that identifies involuntary terminations going forward. Is WebCOBRA going to enable this as an event code for future terminations?
March 10th, 2009 at 01:21 PM
My problem about some terminated employees not appearing on list was resolved. The individiuals who were not listed were entered as “reduced hours” or retirement and past 65 and therefore do not qualify. Matt in Customer Support was very helpful in letting me know that was the reason.
March 10th, 2009 at 01:38 PM
@EBEB
I think I figured this out through my own trial an error process. For involuntary QB’s with a later termination date then 2/17: 1. add as a normal termination 2. go to action tab and activate the subsidy (it in return activates a subsidy opt-out option, which i guess can be selected if qb elects COBRA but does not want the subsidy.
March 11th, 2009 at 06:33 AM
@Yelena and EBEB: Don’t be so quick to activate the ARRA Stimulus, I tried it for the same purpouse, and it will not let you reverse it once it is activated. So if you don’t have the enrollment form in hand from the QB stating they want the ARRA Stimulus Subsidy, marking that option would be premature.
March 11th, 2009 at 09:17 AM
@ Lisa
Is this with Travis COBRA or WebCOBRA? On WebCobra there is an opt-out button…
March 11th, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Yelena, where is the opt out option? Does it only show up once somoene enrolls?
Sarah or Jessee- We use the CSV file to bring people over to Web COBRA and if they come over as a involuntary termination that ARRA eligible button is automatically chosen, is there a way to undo that if they are not eligible? There is no opt out option there.
March 11th, 2009 at 03:52 PM
@Adella
Its under the action tab. Once you go under the action tab and activate the subsidy, a new option apears there which is called opt-out subsidy or something like that. The QB does not need to be enrolled, but simply be in the system. Before I accept correspondence for these QB’s I do the changes we are discussing, which then in return changes the notice I accept afterwards.
March 11th, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Sarah – Clients want to add those terminated after 02/17. Is there somewhere in their data entry process where they can designate involuntary termination so that all the necessary information is produced at one time. I see from the above questions that this is a problem for all. I know that the first order of business is to get the re-notifications out but new terminations are adding up and our clients who have been patient thus far are getting restless.
March 12th, 2009 at 09:22 AM
@Helen: What you will need to do is choose the Event Type of Termination, put in the Event Date, then, on the last step of adding the QB, which is the prior activity screen, you will need to choose the option to print an ARRA Enrollment Form for the QB.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:49 AM
We offer dental and vision as stand alone plans. The system is applying the subsidy on these plans as well and calculating erroneous premiums. Any suggestions?
March 13th, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Sarah: In response to Helen’s concern with new QB’s that need to be entered. I did what you suggested and the ARRA Enrollment form did print, however, the actual Notice does not explain what the subsidy is and how it works. The enrollment form asks them to verify that they qualify for the subsidy, yet there is nothing to explain what the subsidy is.
March 13th, 2009 at 01:32 PM
@Stacey: We are unable to diagnose potential issues through the Blog. Please contact Travis Support regarding this issue.
March 13th, 2009 at 01:42 PM
@Leann: The system was designed to add the subsidy to dental and vision plans. If the calculations seem to be off, please contact Travis Support as we cannot diagnose potential issues over the Blog.
March 13th, 2009 at 01:45 PM
Sarah: I guess my question is: Is there a new Notice for QB’s terminated after the law went into effect explaining what the subsidy is? For example, there is a new election form for enrolled QB’s and there is a re-notification letter for QB’s that did not enroll, but the only thing there is for new QB’s is the ARRA enrollment form? Thanks