Travis Software Official Blog

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

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.

The State of New York recently passed an amendment to the Insurance Law that requires insurers to offer both individual and group policy holders the option to cover dependent children through the age of 29. To qualify as “dependent child” status under the new law, a child must be under age 30, unmarried, and live, work, or reside in New York State or the service area of the insurer.

Updated: 9/27/2009 – changed to reflect availability in the WebCOBRA.com system.

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As part of the definitive trend we covered in our last newsletter, states are enacting legislation affecting State Continuation. Minnesota has created a program to help subsidize the 35% of premiums not paid for by ARRA, although the QB interacts directly with the state government. Nevada has reduced the maximum administrative fee allowable from 125% to 110%. Read below for details and how we are planning to change TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.

Updated: 9/08/2009 – changed to reflect availability in the TravisCobra system.

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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.

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Texas State Law has been modified for under-20 groups, effective 7/19/2009. State Bill 1771 was enacted and seeks to allow under-20 insured groups, otherwise known as Mini-COBRA, to take full advantage of the 2009 ARRA COBRA Subsidy.

Updated: 8/12/2009 – changed to reflect availability in the TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com systems.

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We previously posted details of the new State Continuation guidelines for both Pennsylvania and Utah. The expanded versions of these laws are now available in the WebCOBRA.com system, and are referred to as so-called “Mini-COBRA” laws, which affect employers with less than 20 employees. (Employers with more than 20 employees are naturally covered by Federal COBRA)

Updated: 7/07/2009 – changed to reflect availability in TravisCobra.

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As we are sure you are aware, two COBRA State Continuation Laws have recently been signed into law for Pennsylvania and Utah, and we wanted to let you know that we have analyzed the laws and are currently working on adding capabilities to both the TravisCobra and WebCOBRA.com systems in order to help you administer your under-20 groups in those states.

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