New York State Continuation Changes: S5471 [Update]
Category:
Topics: new-york, state continuation
The New York State Continuation Law has been modified and passed, granting qualified beneficiaries the right to 36 months of Continuation Coverage. This will add 18 months of coverage to a normal 18 months of the Federal COBRA period, and will allow 36 months of coverage for an under-20 employer.
Updated: 8/17/2009 – changed to reflect availability in the WebCOBRA.com system.
Updated: 8/13/2009 – changed to reflect availability in the TravisCobra system.
Effective Date
This change affects all Qualified Beneficiaries assigned to a NY plan that has a start date of 7/1/2009. Plans amended or renewed after that date are also affected.
”.. takes effect on July 1, 2009 and apply to all contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after that date.” – NY Bill Memo
Existing Participants
Participants who would have normally been granted admission to the new plan, but had terminated due to their COBRA period ending, will be given the possibility to resume their coverage for a total of 36 months. These QBs will be given 18 months of additional coverage.
Updates
We will be updating TravisCobra and WebCOBRA as soon as possible; we will post updates to this post and the blog.
Workflow
Since plans that had an earlier start date do not have to offer the 36 month extension, we will be adding an option to each Benefit Plan in TravisCobra and WebCOBRA so you will be able to set whether that NY plan has a start date on/after 7/1/2009. If the plan does have a start date on or after 7/1/2009, then when QBs/PQBs are added to that plan, they will receive 36 months of coverage.
For existing QBs, we recommend following the following workflow- When a benefit plan renews, is modified, or is created after 7/1/2009, compile a list of participants on that plan with an event date less than 18 months before the plan’s effective date.
- You then add those QBs as new events with their original event date to the system with a prior-paid activity of their last paid date and assign them to the new NY plan
- The system will give them a total of 36 months of coverage
Additional Resources
Software Availability
This features is available in the TravisCobra system now!
WebCOBRA was uploaded through a hotfix on 8/16/2009 without any interference on the part of the user.
TravisCobra version 8.4.0.10 is available now. A release email was sent to you with the FTP location to download this latest patch.
6 Responses to “New York State Continuation Changes: S5471 [Update]”
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August 11th, 2009 at 10:43 AM
The NY state law is not an extension of the federal COBRA, but state continuation that a participant can elect when federal cobra is exhausted. Is travis interpreting this as 36 months of federal COBRA?
August 11th, 2009 at 12:49 PM
@Kathy: For Groups with under 20 employees, New York state is now offering 36 months of continuation coverage. For Groups with over 20 employees, New York state offers participants who are covered under Federal COBRA an additional 18 months of State coverage after their original 18 months of Federal coverage has been exhausted, making the total coverage available 36 months.
August 11th, 2009 at 03:36 PM
I was under the impression that this only effects Fully Insured plans and not self funded. On a Self Funded group they would still only get 18 months of federal COBRA. Correct?
August 11th, 2009 at 04:39 PM
@Rose: Self-funded plans are protected under the Federal charter and do not have to follow state laws; however, we are unable to give legal advice regarding how to interpret this New York state law. Regarding how the systems, TravisCobra and WebCobra.com, process self-funded plans: If a plan is marked as self-funded, then they aren’t marked as covered under New York state, so the issue is then deemed not applicable.
August 13th, 2009 at 08:51 AM
What is the time line for whom this affects? In other words, if a PQB exhausted COBRA in April or May 09 are they eligible for the extention? How would we know who qualifies?
August 13th, 2009 at 01:01 PM
@Cara: It is our interpretation that it includes all plans that either have a been amended, renewed, or have a start date after 7/1/2009. For more detailed information, you can contact the New York State Insurance Department at 1-800-342-3736.