Travis Software Official Blog - Home

The Ideabook Really Works!:From Idea to Production

2010-03-08T18:54:00Z

In the past year, many submissions from the Travis Ideabook have made their way into our Travis Systems! Every year we add new features to our Travis products, and many of them come from you, our Travis Customers.

Some Ideabook ideas added to TravisCobra in the past year include:

Ability to view on the PQB edit screen if a PQB is enrolled in the ARRA subsidy and their ARRA end-date.
There is a now ARRA Subsidy Termination Letter notifying the PQB that they will now need to pay the full premium.
TravisCobra now has the ARRA Premium Report that can export to Excel, and the ability to pull the Premium Reduction report by branch.
The ARRA Denial Letter including how to appeal to the DOL.
Expanded records in the Log tracking changes made to a PQB.
A new macro showing the ARRA subsidy amount.

The Travis Ideabook makes it easy to submit suggestions for enhancements to Travis products. All you do is go to http://Ideabook.travisoft.com and set up an account by selecting “sign up” from the home screen.

Please note that you must use the same email address as the used for your self-service login. If you do not have a self-service login, or do not know what it is, please contact Travis Support. Once your account is activated, you can submit enhancement suggestions for Travis products, view other customer’s suggestions, and vote or comment on the suggestions! Please keep submitting your ideas on the Ideabook, and if you haven’t done so yet, why not start today!

COBRA Continuation Coverage Assistance Under the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 And What Travis Is Doing About It

2010-03-04T21:00:00Z

On March 2, 1010, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) was amended by the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4691) (the “Act”) which, among other things, extends eligibility for the COBRA premium subsidy through March 31, 2010. The Act also includes a measure that extends premium assistance to eligible individuals that had or have a reduction of hours between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010 but did not elect COBRA coverage due to that qualifying event, and that later incur an involuntary termination of employment on or after March 2, 2010. Plan Administrators have new election period and notice responsibilities for such individuals.

To Address This New Law, Travis Is Enhancing its Systems in the Following Ways:

On Monday, March 8, 2010,Travis will release on WebCOBRA.com and make a download and installation available for TravisCobra that:

1. Modifies the standard COBRA Election Notice to include the individuals that are now eligible for premium assistance pursuant to the Act.

2. Provides an option to re-notify any QB’s with qualifying event dates on or after March 1, 2010 that are entered into the system after installation of the new release, assuming that the User has marked their qualifying event type as “ARRA eligible”. (The previous ARRA eligibility expired on February 28, 2010)

3. Provides the ability to re-notify individuals whose qualifying event date was between March 1, 2010and March 31, 2010, and whose COBRA Election Notices were accepted prior to the date that the new release is initiated, letting the appropriate QBs know that they may be eligible eligibility for premium assistance.

On or before March 15, 2010, Travis will send a supplemental release on WebCOBRA and a download and installation available for TravisCobra that:

1. Includes a new report entitled the “QB Lookback for Reduction in Hours” that lists each QB that had a qualifying event of a Reduction of Hours between September 1, 2008 through March 31, 2010.This report will be broken up by employer for multi-employer systems.

2. Includes a new Qualifying Event Code for “Reduction of Hours Followed by an Involuntary Termination of Employment” that can be used for those who incurred a qualifying event of a reduction in hours between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010, and were offered COBRA but who either did not make (or made and discontinued) an election of COBRA continuation coverage, and who later incur an involuntary termination of employment between March 2, 2010 and March 31, 2008. These people are treated as having an additional qualifying event (the involuntary termination of employment) that requires an additional COBRA election Notice and election period. However, the period of COBRA continuation coverage is determined as though the qualifying event was the reduction of hours.

What You As A Plan Administrator May Do to Help Satisfy the Act’s Requirements:

Plan Administrators may have an interesting time gathering the information necessary to implement this new qualifying event. Before this Act, employers have not needed to look back to see if an individual first incurred a specific Qualifying Event to determine whether they are entitled to receipt of an additional notice and a new COBRA election period. We believe one of the most difficult parts of administering this Act may in fact be communicating to client/employers that they must examine all terminations on and after September 1, 2008 in light of this new qualifying event. More simply, employers must ask themselves, “Was this termination preceded by a Reduction in Hours that occurred on or after September 1, 2008?”

The “QB Lookback for Reduction in Hours” Report added to TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com on or before March 15, 2010 will be helpful in identifying those who may qualify for a new election period and notification. . However, if a Plan Administrator has client/employers for whom they began performing COBRA administration after September 1, 2008, it may well be up to the client/employer to recognize whether there is a need to notify the QB of his/her COBRA election rights..This latest extension merely provides immediate relief, since the premium assistance under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 expired February 28, 2010. Please note that Congress is considering a further extension and expansion of the ARRA COBRA subsidy, possibly extending eligibility for the 15-month subsidy to those incurring an involuntary termination of employment through December 31, 2010.

Travis will work hard to promptly implement changes to our systems upon any act of Congress as necessary,to help you meet the ever-changing requirements of COBRA administration.

For additional information regarding the Temporary Extension Act, please see http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRA.

Travis hires a Corporate Counsel

2010-02-02T15:12:00Z

From its founding in 1986 through 2009, Travis relied on outside attorneys on an as-needed basis for assistance with the design of new systems, with changes to existing software systems, and with verbiage of various correspondences. Over the course of last year, as changes were made to COBRA by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) and other rapid changes made to HIPAA, it became increasingly clear that Travis would benefit from having an attorney on staff to meet the increased pace of change regarding the administration of its systems.

On January 4, 2010, Lauren M. Williams joined the full-time staff of Travis Software as Vice President and Corporate Counsel. Lauren joins us from Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, a full-service national law firm where she specialized in Employee Benefits/ERISA Law. She is a graduate of South Texas College of Law where she was awarded the 2003-2004 ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition Champion. Most recently, she was chosen as Texas Super Lawyer- Rising Star. Lauren’s ERISA and employee benefits experience combined with her knowledge of COBRA, HIPAA, and Flexible Benefits, prove that she is well-qualified to provide the help we need to navigate the increasingly complex world of employee benefits law. In addition, Lauren has already begun leading the charge for the new Travis HITECH System, which will help provide administrative compliance with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”).

Those of our customers who attended a training class in January that discussed the latest changes to the COBRA premium subsidy made by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 have already had a chance to get acquainted with Lauren. Her portion of the training class provided a brief summary of the changes made to the COBRA premium subsidy by the 2010 DOD Act and addressed recent guidance provided by Department of Labor, including the modified DOL Model Notices.

Travis remains committed to providing our customers with the most up-to-date systems for the employee benefit application areas that we address. Having Lauren on staff has already had a positive effect as we developed the latest changes to TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com in January, 2010, and we are confident that her continued involvement in Travis will provide a true benefit to our customers and help ensure that our software systems are well researched and administratively complete. We hope you will join us in welcoming Lauren to our staff.

New ARRA Reports Available in TravisCOBRA and WebCOBRA.com!

2010-01-25T07:30:00Z

Last week, Travis reported that the IRS released informal guidance regarding the proper procedure to claim credit for an ARRA premium subsidy on IRS Form 941. Through an email authored by a senior IRS Analyst, the IRS clarified that the ability to claim credit for the COBRA premium subsidy is based on the date that the COBRA premium payment is received, not the time period to which such credit is applied.

In response to this guidance, Travis has developed a new report for both the TravisCOBRA and WebCOBRA.com systems. This new report is entitled the “ARRA IRS Report.”

Example of Report in TravisCOBRA

Example of Report in WebCOBRA.com

This report is filtered by the date the payment is entered in the system. In addition, the report was designed to contain the following columns: • Employer Name

• COBRA QB Name

• Payment Entry Date

• Total Payment Amount

• Attributable ARRA Subsidy

This report will also total the subsidy at the employer level.

Importing .RTF files into the Letter Writer

2010-01-22T07:00:00Z

The following document will discuss how to import the ARRA Model Notice into the Letter Writer for Letters 79 – 81.

1.Locate the document named ARRAExtension.rtf in your COBRA directory.

2.You may open the document for review. It should appear like the document below.

3.Open the Letter Writer in TravisCOBRA. Open the letter in which you would like to replace the text.

The text of the ARRAExtension.rtf was intended replace the text of the following letters in the letter writer:

a.ARRA Extension

b.ARRA Extension for Exhausted

c.ARRA Notice for Pending

d.ARRA Notice for Termed

4.With one of the following letters above opened in the letter writer, select the File menu and then select the Import function.

5.Once the document is in the Letter Writer, edit as you would like.

6.Repeat for any of the documents listed above.

Subject Line: IRS Issues Informal Clarification on Claiming COBRA Subsidy on Form 941s

2010-01-14T21:00:00Z

A senior tax analyst for the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently clarified how to properly claim the payroll tax credit on Form 941 for the ARRA premium subsidy. Through an informal announcement, the IRS agent stated that the ability to claim the credit for the premium subsidy is based on the year in which the payment is received rather than the year the payment is applied. The agent further stated that the date on which the employer is informed of a payment received is not at issue, but only when the payment was actually received.

The specific example provided confirms that the subsidy credit arising out of a premium payment received in 2010 that covered a premium period in 2009 (for example, a first payment by a new QB) shall be included in the 2010 Form 941. The inference is that a premium payment made in December 2009 that applies to a period in 2010 generates a credit on Form 941 for the Fourth Quarter, 2009 rather than the first quarter of 2010.

In response to this guidance, Travis is adding a report to TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com that will document ARRA premium subsidy payments based on the date the payment is processed rather than the period to which it applies. We plan to complete this report quickly so that you may pass it to your clients and that they may know whether they are required to make any adjustments to Form 941 for the fourth quarter 2009. Please note that the fourth quarter 2009 Form 941s are due at the end of this month.

Department of Labor Releases Guidance on COBRA Subsidy Extension, DOL Prepares Premium Assistance Extension Notice

2010-01-11T18:06:00Z

On January 11, 2010, the U. S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released an updated Fact Sheet and FAQs for Employees, which signals that the DOL is developing updated model notices to reflect the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (“2010 DOD Act”).

At the time of this entry, the DOL has yet release modified DOL Model Notices.

Travis Software has been working on new versions of both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com in anticipation of the release of the Model Notices, and will be releasing the new versions of both systems by January 18, 2010.

New Releases of both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com with DOD COBRA Changes are Now Available

2010-01-04T14:31:00Z

Users of both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com are now able to use new releases of these systems reflecting the changes to the COBRA law enacted December 22nd as part of the Department of Defense Appropriation Act 2010.

Users of TravisCobra were notified on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 that they could download and install its new version. The new version of WebCOBRA.com was implemented during the evening of December 31st.

Both system updates include three new letters required to notify different types of COBRA qualified beneficiaries of the availability of up to 15 months of ARRA subsidy, rather than the nine months of subsidy previously available, and the extended period of eligibility for the subsidy through February 28, 2010. The COBRA Election Notice packet sent to new COBRA qualified beneficiaries has also been modified to reflect the longer period of subsidy.

Additionally, new premium accounting modifications have been added to the system as required by these new requirements.

These new releases put users of TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com in a position to meet the administrative requirements of the now-modified COBRA law. As clarification to some of the finer points of the new COBRA provisions are made known by the U.S. Department of Labor or the Internal Revenue Service, Travis will produce further updates to both systems.

Travis Holidays 2010

2009-12-29T16:00:00Z

All of us at Travis hope you’ve had a wonderful Holiday Season and are looking forward to a great New Year. As we do each year at this time, we want to give you the days in 2010 when Travis offices will be closed for holidays.

Here’s the list:

Friday, January 1st – New Year’s Day

Monday, January 18th – Martin Luther King Birthday

Monday, February 15th – President’s Day/Washington’s Birthday

Monday, May 31st – Memorial Day

Monday, July 5th – Independence Day

Monday, September 6th – Labor Day

Thursday, November 25th – Thanksgiving

Friday, November 26th – Day After Thanksgiving

Friday, December 24th – Christmas Eve

Thank you again for being a Travis customer and for your support during this past year. We hope you find joy in the New Year!

Questions Already Arising About Latest COBRA Changes

2009-12-23T14:07:00Z

President Obama signed an extension and expansion of the COBRA premium subsidy into law on December 19th, giving existing COBRA qualified beneficiaries who had qualified as Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEIs) an opportunity to receive as many as six months of additional premium subsidy, and providing new QBs with up to 15 months of the 65% subsidy.

The administrative requirements created by the new changes to COBRA are significant, though not as burdensome as the original ARRA renotification and subsidy administration requirements. As stated in previous blog posts, Travis began work on new releases of both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com prior to the passage of the new law, so that our customers could have new releases of the systems they can begin using by the end of 2009.

Several questions have come to us from system users about the new law and what provisions are going to be in the system versions we release. An earlier blog post on December 21st described the new letters to be found in the release, and this posting is intended to be a bit more detailed about some of the other features in the initial releases we make available to you.

Our goal is to make the renotifications and premium administration our users have to do in order to meet the requirements of this new law as automatic as possible. That’s why we’re including an Enrollment Form with the letter to QBs whose subsidy is exhausted and whose coverage has lapsed, telling them how much they need to pay and by when in order to reinstate their coverage. We’re also going to include a new set of payment coupons with the letter sent to those who are enrolled in COBRA and who now can either extend their existing subsidy up to six months or resume receiving it if their subsidy lapsed but they continued to pay the full premium.

One of the reasons we’re sending the new releases out by December 31, 2009, is so our users can send new COBRA Election Notices to new QBs reflecting the possible 15-month subsidy rather than the former 9-month one.

Also, some users have told us they want to send out the new letters immediately to those who may re-enroll in COBRA and those whose subsidy is ongoing but now extended. The letters for these actions are straightforward and will be included in our initial new releases. So if you want to print the notices ASAP to those who are eligible for re-enrollment, you will be able to do so. Sending the notices quickly will give the QBs the majority of the 60-day “window” specified in the law, which appears to end on February 19th based on the enactment date of the law.

Other of our users have said they don’t feel comfortable sending out any notices until the Department of Labor issues guidance and perhaps Model Notices for this new required correspondence. Our new releases can accommodate that opinion as well – the new notices will not print unless users initiate them.

However, the DOL has not yet indicated that they will produce Model Notices or guidance for this new law. If they do, Travis will modify our systems, as we did with the original ARRA law, and will include whatever Model Notices the DOL may issue.

The one issue that appears to need DOL guidance, and the one letter than may need a Model Notice in order for anyone to confidently send it to QBs, is the renotification letter required to be sent to those who had new COBRA qualifying events on or after October 31, 2009, letting them know that the subsidy is now 15 months rather than 9. The wording of the law is unclear as to whether any additional time is to be allowed a QB to make a decision about enrolling in COBRA as a result of the renotification requirement.

For example, if it’s January 10, 2010 and you are about to send a renotification to John Doe who had his original qualifying event on November 10, 2009, lost coverage that day and was notified on November 15th, do you really want to send him a renotification on Jan. 10th telling him he has only five more days, until January 15, 2010, to enroll, particularly after you gave him the new information about the longer period of subsidy? Some have told us they would send that notice and give only that five days of time; others have told us they would want to give a new 60-day election period to the QB, still others have told us they think it’s reasonable to provide 30 days for enrollment from the date of the notice.

There is risk in providing too little time for QBs to consider their options, to be sure, but there is also risk in providing too much time – if you offer a new 60-day enrollment window in the renotification letter in the case above and your insurance carrier (or stop-loss carrier, if you’re self-funded) doesn’t agree with the longer period of time for enrollment, the employer may end up self-funding some claims.

We have heard opinions on both sides of the argument that appear persuasive, but those arguments generally end with, “We need to hear from the DOL.”

Thankfully, the new law gives administrators some time to consider these questions. Rather than the hard-and-fast deadline for renotifications to be sent, as was the case with ARRA, the new law provides that premium payment for re-enrollment must be made within 60-days after the enactment date of the law or, if later, the QB must be given 30 days from the date the notice is sent to the QB.

We can only hope that the DOL provides some timely guidance to the unanswered questions already arising out of Congress’ actions. Travis will act with additional releases as soon as those questions are answered.

A Congressional Christmas Gift to Five Types of COBRA QBs

2009-12-21T21:48:00Z

Now that the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 2010 DODAA, 2010, or H.R. 3326)has passed the Senate, Congress has given a Christmas gift to several hundred thousand existing COBRA qualifying beneficiaries and to others who lose their coverage during the first two months of 2010. An extension of the 65% ARRA subsidy of COBRA premiums from nine to fifteen months, and possible eligibility for the subsidy to those who have COBRA qualifying events of termination through February 28, 2010.

We’ve found five categories of COBRA qualifying beneficiaries who are affected by the changes to the law. QBs in each category will need to be sent new letters acquainting them with the aspects of the new law, and in some cases asking them to provide administrators with their decision on elections they may now make. You may think of other specific cases for the QBs you administer, but we believe these five types cover the majority of new administrative requirements brought up by the new law.

The five types of COBRA QBs and the actions to be taken are:

1. AEIs who have one or more months of COBRA eligibility remaining ,who have exhausted their ARRA subsidy and their COBRA coverage was terminated. A new letter will be produced by both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com for these people advising them of their right to as many as six months of subsidy and the new opportunity they have to re-enroll in COBRA. Each of these letters will be accompanied by a new “Coverage Reinstatement Enrollment/Premium Payment Form” which will give the QB information about how much they need to pay at subsidized rates, and by what date, in order to re-enroll.

2. AEIs who are enrolled and “on ARRA subsidy” and whose 9-month ARRA subsidy has not been exhausted. These QBs will receive a new letter letting them know they are eligible for up to an additional six months of subsidy (if they have at least one month of COBRA continuation remaining after the nine-month subsidy exhausts), will give their new subsidy exhaustion date, and will let them know they will need to continue paying at the same rate they are paying currently.

3. AEIs who continue to be enrolled in COBRA but whose ARRA subsidy has already been exhausted. These QBs have begun or resumed paying the full monthly COBRA premium after their period of subsidy was exhausted. Yet another new letter will be generated by both systems for these QBs, letting them know of the changes in the law and giving them the new date through which they may receive ARRA subsidy. New payment coupons or notices will be produced for them, showing the amounts they will need to pay in future months. The systems will credit each QBs overpayment caused by the elongated subsidy , if any, toward their 35% of premium due in future months, but will also mention that their overpaid premiums may be refunded. The new letter’s standard wording will suggest that they contact their COBRA administrator if they would like a premium refund.

4. QBs with a First Day After Loss of Coverage of November 1, 2009 – February 28, 2010, who have already been notified of COBRA eligibility, but are not Enrolled. Our approach to this group of QBs, given the law’s requirement to notify them of the (now) 15 months of subsidy available to them and the Department of Labor’s past requirement for a full renotification after ARRA was first passed, is to generate a new COBRA Election Notice to each of them with 15 months of subsidy offered to them if they qualify as an AEI rather than the nine mentioned in the previous Election Notice sent to them. The logic behind restating the offer of COBRA is that they will need to be allowed to make a new decision based on the new information that they can now receive 15 months of subsidy.

5. QBs whose initial COBRA Election Notice is printed after the new DODAA,2010 release of TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com is installed/operational, and whose Qualifying Event Date is on or before February 29, 2010. These QBs will be given a COBRA Election Notice whose wording varies, but only slightly, from the COBRA Election Notice that has been generated by both systems since ARRA was first enacted. The modified notice will communicate the 15-month length of subsidy if they qualify as an AEI.

Users of TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com will be able to modify the wording of the new letters as well as the new COBRA Election Notice prior to their being printed by each system. As more information is known about the administrative effort required to meet DODAA,2010 or as guidance comes out from DOL or IRS, we will modify both TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com to meet those requirements.

Travis will also begin to offer training classes on these new law changes and how to use the changes we’ve made to each system, much as we did shortly after ARRA passed last Winter. We will publish a schedule of those classes before the end of 2009, and the classes will begin during the first or second weeks of January, 2010.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Travis!

WebCOBRA.com has been updated to handle HCTC Eligible QBs!

2009-12-11T16:00:00Z

With the latest application update to WebCOBRA.com, users can now generate a letter that will inform a QB that they have applied for TAA and will give them further information about HCTC.

Users can select to enter a date that as QB applies for Trade Assistance and once that action is complete a entirely new letter will automatically generate from the system. This function is located on the Action Tab for a QB.

This letter is designed to inform the QB of information regarding HCTC an is included automatically in the Internet Word Processor.

COBRA Update from Travis Software on ARRA.

2009-12-09T17:02:00Z

While Congress is considering extending the COBRA Premium subsidy provided by ARRA there remains the possibility that January 1, 2010 will come and go without ARRA being extended. If no extension is enacted, those who have qualifying events in 2010 will not be eligible to become Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEIs) under ARRA, as ARRA only provides for subsidy for those who have qualifying events between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.

Each employer or administrator should be thinking about how you want to administer a “wrinkle” in the ARRA law concerning people who have qualifying events late in 2009 and whose “First Day After Loss of Coverage” is January 1, 2010 or later. There are many who believe that those who have their qualifying event late in 2009, or even on December 31,2009, but their “First Day After Loss of Coverage” is January 1, 2010 or later, are not eligible to become “AEIs” and receive subsidy assistance. Other employers and administrators believe that as long as the qualifying event date is on or before December 31, 2009, the person is eligible for the subsidy. There has been guidance from the Department of Labor on this question, but administrators are left to decide how to address the issue.

As 2009 draws to a close, we wanted to give TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com users some information about what is already in our COBRA systems with respect to transitioning out of ARRA, and about how to set up the systems to meet your interpretation when the First Day After Loss of Coverage is in 2010. First, both the current version of TravisCobra (Series 8.5.0.03) and the current production version of WebCOBRA.com have been programmed to stop including wording, forms, etc. in the COBRA Election Notice package concerning ARRA, and stop mentioning the possibility of a qualifying beneficiary becoming an AEI, if the qualifying event date is January 1, 2010 or later. TravisCobra users should make sure they are on Release 8.5.0.03 and if they are not, please contact TravisSupport to get help downloading and installing that version. WebCOBRA.com users are always on the most current version of the system and need to do nothing.

If the qualifying event date for a new QB is during the latter part of 2009 and the “First Day After Loss of Coverage” is 1/1/2010 or later, then the systems have “Custom Options” you can set to fit your interpretation of the law. Administrators using multi-employer versions of TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com can set this option globally for all employers or may set it on an employer-by-employer basis.

If you are using TravisCobra, you can go to the “PQB Options” screen and select the appropriate ARRA Option that fits your interpretation of the law. For example, if you want to notify PQBs with event dates in December, 2009 but loss of coverage in 2010 that they are eligible to become an AEI, you would check the third box that says, “Allow ARRA for PQBs with an Event Date Between September 2008 and December 2009 which will result in a First Day After LOC in 2010”. If you do not want to give those PQBs the opportunity to become AEIs, you would not check that box.

If you are using WebCOBRA.com, you would navigate to “Client Options – Processing Options” and select/deselect the option on that page that has the same description as mentioned just above, depending on your interpretation of the law.

Both systems will continue to help you administer the ARRA subsidies for existing AEIs during their nine-month subsidy term as we move into 2010. So, for example, if someone had a qualifying event on September 30, 2009 and was qualified to be an AEI, the systems will account for their subsidy through June, 2010. Anyone with a qualifying event date in 2010 will not be provided wording in their letters offering them the opportunity to become AEIs.

All this may change if Congress acts to extend ARRA, and we are watching those deliberations closely. One proposal being considered calls for an extension of the ARRA COBRA subsidy to 15 months, which would probably require another renotification to the various types of affected QBs, and some pretty tricky accounting.

Assume, for example, John Doe qualified for the subsidy as of March 1, 2009 and his nine months of subsidy expired on November 30, 2009. In December, 2009 he did not pay his COBRA premium because he couldn’t afford it since it was no longer subsidized, so his coverage is terminated as of December 1, 2009.Then in January Congress passes an extension of the subsidy to 15 months. John, and all the other Johns, will probably have to be renotified of their right to re-enroll in COBRA. But when would that re-enrollment commence? December 1st? January 1st? And what if John did pay his full December, 2009 premium, then Congress extends ARRA. Will the subsidy be retroactive back to December 1, resulting in a credit for John to be applied toward his share of future premiums?

Please know that we are watching the developments in Congress, and will respond quickly with new releases if there is an extension of ARRA passed. But if Congress does not act, your TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com systems have already been programmed to handle the transition to a “post-ARRA” world.

Mini Cobra and State Continuation Updates

2009-11-18T21:58:00Z

States are continuing to enact legislation affecting State Continuation and Mini Cobra and to support our customers, we updated our software in preparation. The following States have changed their coverage options, and we have modified WebCOBRA.com and TravisCobra to reflect these changes:

Missouri

Missouri residents can now receive up to 36 months coverage with the addition of 18 months of coverage for Termination and Reduce Hours.

Illinois

Illinois mini cobra has been extended to 12 months of continuous coverage from the FDLOC for events such as Termination and Reduced hours.

Oregon

Oregon mini cobra and State Continuation enhancements have been implemented for events occurring between 09/01/2008 – 12/31/2009. Mini Cobra for Oregon will now offer 9 months of coverage from the FDLOC for the following events:

-Termination – 31 day election period

-dependents loss of coverage due to employees death – 60 day election window, 45 day payment grace

-divorce – 60 day election window, 45 day payment grace

Ohio

Ohio Mini Cobra have also decided to offer a 12 month coverage period from the FDLOC for the following event that occurred between 04/01/2009 – 12/31/2009.

-Termination – 31 day election period

Virginia

Virginia State QB’s enrolled in State Mini cobra are now eligible to receive a total of 9 months coverage period from the FDLOC for events occurring between 09/01/2008 – 12/31/2009.

Termination- 60 day election period

To inquire about any of these State mandated changes please refer to each State’s Insurance website or find out who to contact at this site: http://www.patientadvocate.org/index.php?p=178#VA

Travis COBRA is available to download with the latest State Continuation Updates!

2009-11-16T19:07:00Z

States are continuing to enact legislation affecting State Continuation and Mini Cobra and to support our customers we updated our software in preparation. The following States have changed their coverage options:

Illinois

Illinois mini cobra has been extended to 12 months of continuous coverage from the FDLOC for events such as Termination and Reduced hours.

Oregon

• Termination- 31 day election period

• dependents loss of coverage due to employees death – 60 day election window, 45 day payment grace

• divorce – 60 day election window, 45 day payment grace

Ohio

Ohio Mini Cobra have also decided to offer a 12 month coverage period from the FDLOC for the following event that occurred between 04/01/2009 – 12/31/2009.

• Termination- 31 day election period

Virginia

Virginia State QB’s enrolled in State Mini cobra are now eligible to receive a total of 9 months coverage period from the FDLOC for events occurring between 09/01/2008 – 12/31/2009.

• Termination- 60 day election period

To inquire about any of these State mandated changes please refer to each State’s Insurance website or find out who to contact at this site.