Travis Software Official Blog

We have released version 8.3 of TravisCobra; this is the ARRA release that will enable you to meet the new COBRA administrative requirements of the 2009 ARRA (stimulus bill).

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We have published sample COBRA Election Packets generated from TravisCobra and WebCOBRA. Both systems are in final test right now, and will be delivered this weekend.

Last Update: 03/09/2009

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You can now integrate your WebCOBRA printing operations into your existing document management system with the ability to customize your barcodes.


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Based on details provided by our administrators and government representatives during a conference call, here are several scenarios on how both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA will calculate premium reductions for the Stimulus Plan.

The general way to think about this is the 65% subsidy states that the premium should be considered paid for if the QB pays 35% of the premium. We’ll define the “premium” as the total due, so that includes the admin fee and normal employer subsidies.

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We’ve published details on how we are going to modify TravisCobra and WebCOBRA to help you meet the new COBRA Administrative needs of the 2009 Stimulus Bill. Read more for details on the new Actions, Letters, and Reports in both systems. We will have the following ready for you to use by 3/1/2009 in both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.

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Over the past ten years, particularly since the passage of HIPAA and several state privacy laws, many, if not most, administrators have been moving away from identifying COBRA QBs by their Social Security number. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is taking all of us a step backward into the past with its reporting requirements regarding Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEIs) who receive COBRA premium subsidies.

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Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the ARRA, or the Economic Stimulus bill) is law, we thought you would like a summary of the general changes being made to TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com and when we’re going to have those changes to you.

First, the timing. Since the 65% subsidy to eligible Qualified Beneficiaries starts as early as March 1, 2009, that date forms the date which we are targeting for having your new versions of TravisCobra sent to you, and for having the new release of WebCOBRA.com implemented. We actually began development of the changes to our systems in mid-January, after the Cobra changes first appeared in the stimulus bill proposed in the House of Representatives.

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Both houses of Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Friday. The Senate agreed to the conference report 60-34, and now goes to the President’s desk for him to sign into law.

What changes do we see for COBRA Administrators?

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment – Conference Report (2009 stimulus) has been released, which you can find it at the House Rules Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. We’ve also taken the relevant section (B) and posted it for you to download.

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As we’ve covered, the House and Senate have passed two differing bills for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Stimulus Bill). Both contain significant changes to COBRA Administration, and while the bill could change radically in the next few days, here are our interpretations of the two bill’s differences.

Last Updated: 02/13/2009

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Since the House version of the bill and the Senate version of the bill are different, the law has not yet been passed by Congress. The two chambers will send their bill to a conference committee, where they will hammer out their differences and produce one final bill for the President to sign.

Last Updated 2-13-2009

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What is Single Sign On?

Single Sign On (SSO) is the ability for users to only sign on to a set of systems once. In WebCOBRA’s case, your website is the signing authority – they sign on to your website once, and only once.

1. User visits www.benefitsbyyou.com
2. User signs in using the username/password provided by you
3. User clicks on “Manage COBRA”
4. User is at the homescreen of WebCOBRA without having to:
   • Remember yet another username or password
   • Log In

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A new feature was added to WebCOBRA on Sunday, February 8, that allows Administrators to prevent certain types of users from logging into the system.

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There are a lot of questions surrounding how WebCOBRA.com calculates a premium whenever there are the inevitable modifications, such as mid-month coverage changes, plan drops, plan adds, etc., that occur to a QBs account. Travis Support would like to provide a few scenarios that will help you, our customers, understand what the best practice to follow would be in these situations.

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A new feature was just added to WebCOBRA that allows most users to delete an uploaded document for a QB Group from the History tab.

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