Scott Ruth
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She is entitled to COBRA regardless of when her coverage ended. You need to send her a COBRA notice to her last known mailing address. Certified mail is a good idea. She has 60 days from the notice to elect, retroactively.
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I have one large client whose policy requires 5 vacation days per year must be taken consecutively. It's not well enforced, however.
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You need to proceed carefully. Anytime you offer a choice between a nontaxable benefit (for example health insurance) and a taxable benefit (for example cash, paid leave, etc.), you have created a cafeteria plan regulated under Section 125 of the C…
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There are a number of summaries of the new pension legislation out there. I suggest going to your favorite search engine and typing in "Economic Growth and Tax Relief and Reconciliation" and you'll get a bunch. Also, the "employee plans corner" a…
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Most people loosely consider these types of programs as "benefits." So long as expenses are paid from the general assets of the company, such a program is not subject to ERISA. However, to the extent any payments under the plan qualify as tax-free…
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Yes, you need a plan document. Anytime you give an employee a choice between cash (salary) and a nontaxable benefit (health insurance, for example), you have created a "cafeteria plan" or "flexible spending plan" governed by section 125 of the Inte…
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Interesting set of facts, and while it is tempting to say it is all just premiums under one plan, it is important to remember that the premium amount is the election being made under the cafeteria plan, not the coverage level (that is the correspond…
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Correct. Your plan may contain language that indicates that Medicare is the primary payer, but the opportunity to elect COBRA should be given.
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I believe this to be correct, since there is no termination of employment or reduction in hours, there has been no qualifying event. Therefore no COBRA rights will attach. As a fiduciary of the health plan, however, you probably have a duty to exp…
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Self insured health plans are prohibited from discriminating in favor of highly compensated employees. However, employees who customarily work fewer than 25 hours per week can be excluded from consideration under this testing. So you should be abl…
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Generally, ERISA requires that benefit plan records for a particular year be kept for 6 years from the date the plan's Form 5500 is due for that year. However, if the records are necessary to determine a person's benefits under a plan, such as bene…
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When health coverage ends should be addressed in your health plan document. At a minimum, this is when COBRA coverage must start. The qualifying event is the reduction of hours that causes coverage to end. In some cases, if notice is properly giv…
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Check the language in the definition of compensation in the adoption agreement and plan document carefully for the answer to this question. However, generally such plans are written such that compensation is defined as amounts paid during the plan …
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The URL is not working for me either just now. It is what is shown in my bookmarks. Let me know if it doesn't work later. Interesting issue about the state laws. Any such laws may very well be preempted by ERISA.
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I do not think that sunset provision has been extended or removed. However, two bills pending in Congress would effectively do so, and in fact expand the scope of the mental health parity provisions to eliminate any differences in cost or other lim…
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You will need to obtain specific advice on your situation, but this sounds like an asset sale. Under the new regulations, an asset sale in which "old co.'s" employees terminate employment and stop receiving coverage from old co. is a qualifying eve…
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There are no discrimination requirements that apply directly to disability income replacement-type benefit packages. However, a closer look may be warranted if the benefits are offered through a cafeteria/Section 125 plan.
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Many take the position that in a plan where coverage ends at age 65 regardless of Medicare entitlement, that termination of coverage is not a qualifying event under COBRA. It is the age, not Medicare entitlement, that causes the loss of coverage.…
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Could be a different result. Did the other companies with other group plans fall within the same controlled group with the company whose assets were sold? If yes, then it is the seller's obligation to provide COBRA. What state they are in doesn't…
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Unless the seller specifically agreed otherwise in the sale documents, the buyer has the obligation to pick up the COBRA beneficiaries from the seller -- if the seller ceased all coverage for its employees in connection with the sale and the buye…
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Yes, because she is already on Medicare, you must offer COBRA coverage at her termination of employment. Medicare only cuts off COBRA coverage if the person first becomes entitled to Medicare after electing COBRA coverage. Medicare is often the …
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On your facts, I think all would be entitled to COBRA. The rule is that nonresident aliens with no income from a US source are not COBRA qualified beneficiaries, and neither are their spouse and dependents (who are not also employees). Although t…
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Unfortunately complying with COBRA notice requirements can be tough and many employers do outsource this. COBRAServe is one large vendor providing this service, but you would have to check on their rates. Also, health insurance companies often of…
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It is my understanding that if you pay COBRA premiums it is taxable income to the employee. It does not make any difference whether you pay it to the employee or the insurer. Some companies "gross up" the COBRA payments to compensate for these ta…
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I hope this will address some of the issues raised in the various responses to this question about COBRA coverage at a layoff where coverage will be continued thought the severance period. My first advice is to look at what your plan documents sta…
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The plan document will need to be updated to include language tracking the new IRS cafeteria plan regulations on permissible mid-year changes in participant elections. There are two sets or new regs to be concerned with: those that came out in Ma…
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The standard dollar deferral limit under a 457 plan for 2001 is $8,500. This is from IRS News Release IR- 2000-82, which contians this and other retirement plan limit changes. You can get a copy by going to [url]www.irs.ustreas.gov[/url] and cli…
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Generally speaking, most of your welfare benefits (health, life, etc.) and your retirement benefits offered by your employer are governed by federal law (ERISA and the Tax Code) which supercede most state laws. However, there are many state laws …
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The terms of the health plan should control who is eligible for that plan. Unless the health plan definition of eligibility somehow cross-references or shares definitions with the bereavement leave policy, eligibility under your bereavement leave…
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Basically, if you provide nonuniform benefits to different classes of employees through a fully insured health contract with an insurance company, with premiums paid other than through a cafeteria plan (aka Section 125 or Flexible Benefits Plan) the…