Introduction
You’re getting this notice because you recently gained coverage under a group health plan (the Plan). This notice has important information about your right to COBRA continuation coverage, which is a temporary extension of coverage under the Plan. This notice explains COBRA continuation coverage, when it may become available to you and your family, and what you need to do to protect your right to get it. When you become eligible for COBRA, you may also become eligible for other coverage options that may cost less than COBRA continuation coverage.
The right to COBRA continuation coverage was created by a federal law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA). COBRA continuation coverage can become available to you and other members of your family when group health coverage would otherwise end. For more information about your rights and obligations under the Plan and under federal law, you should review the Plan’s Summary Plan Description or contact the Plan Administrator.
You may have other options available to you when you lose group health coverage. For example, you may be eligible to buy an individual plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. By enrolling in coverage through the Marketplace, you may qualify for lower costs on your monthly premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, you may qualify for a 30-day special enrollment period for another group health plan for which you are eligible (such as a spouse’s plan), even if that plan generally doesn’t accept late enrollees.
What Is COBRA Continuation Coverage?
COBRA continuation coverage is a continuation of Plan coverage when it would otherwise end because of a life event. This is also called a “qualifying event.” Specific qualifying events are listed later in this notice. After a qualifying event, COBRA continuation coverage must be offered to each person who is a “qualified beneficiary.” You, your spouse, and your dependent children could become qualified beneficiaries if coverage under the Plan is lost because of the qualifying event. Under the Plan, qualified beneficiaries who elect COBRA must pay for the coverage.
If you’re an employee, you’ll become a qualified beneficiary if you lose your coverage under the Plan because of the following qualifying events:
- Your hours of employment are reduced, or
- Your employment ends for any reason other than your gross misconduct.
If you’re the spouse of an employee, you’ll become a qualified beneficiary if you lose your coverage under the Plan because of the following qualifying events:
- Your spouse dies;
- Your spouse’s hours of employment are reduced;
- Your spouse’s employment ends for any reason other than his or her gross misconduct;
- Your spouse becomes entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part B, or both); or
- You become divorced or legally separated from your spouse.
Your dependent children will become qualified beneficiaries if they lose coverage under the Plan because of the following qualifying events:
- The parent-employee dies;
- The parent-employee’s hours of employment are reduced;
- The parent-employee’s employment ends for any reason other than his or her gross misconduct;
- The parent-employee becomes entitled to Medicare benefits (Part A, Part B, or both);
- The parents become divorced or legally separated; or
- The child stops being eligible for coverage under the Plan as a “dependent child.”
When Is COBRA Continuation Coverage Available?
The Plan will offer COBRA to qualified beneficiaries only after the qualifying event has been reported to Businessolver. When the qualifying event is the end of employment or reduction of hours of employment, death of the employee, or the employee becomes entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part B, or both), the employer must notify the COBRA Administrator of the qualifying event.
You must give notice of some qualifying events – For the other qualifying events (divorce or legal separation of the employee and spouse or a dependent child’s losing eligibility for coverage as a dependent child), you must notify Businessolver at 844-436-7172 within sixty (60) days after the qualifying event occurs.
How Is COBRA Continuation Coverage Provided?
Once the Plan Administrator receives notice that a qualifying event has occurred, COBRA continuation coverage will be offered to each of the qualified beneficiaries. Each qualified beneficiary will have an independent right to elect COBRA continuation coverage. Covered employees may elect COBRA continuation coverage on behalf of their spouses, and parents may elect COBRA continuation coverage on behalf of their children.
COBRA continuation coverage is a temporary continuation of coverage that generally lasts for 18 months due to employment termination or reduction of hours of work. Certain qualifying events, or a second qualifying event during the initial period of coverage, may permit a beneficiary to receive a maximum of 36 months of coverage.
There are also ways in which this 18-month period of COBRA continuation coverage can be extended:
Disability extension of 18-month period of COBRA continuation coverage
If you or anyone in your family covered under the Plan is determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to be disabled and you notify the HR Service Center in a timely fashion, you and your entire family may be entitled to receive up to an additional 11 months of COBRA, for a total maximum of 29 months. The disability must have started before the 60th day of COBRA and must last at least until the end of the 18-month period of coverage. If a qualified beneficiary is determined by the SSA to no longer be disabled, you must notify the notify Businessolver at 844-436-7172 of that fact within thirty (30) days after the SSA’s determination.
Second qualifying event extension of 18-month period of continuation coverage
If your family experiences another qualifying event while receiving 18 months of COBRA, the spouse and dependent children in your family can get up to 18 additional months of COBRA, for a maximum of 36 months, if notice of the second qualifying event is properly given to the HR Service Center. This extension may be available to the spouse and any dependent children receiving coverage if the employee or former employee dies, becomes entitled to Medicare benefits (under Part A, Part B, or both), or gets divorced or legally separated, or if the dependent child stops being eligible under the Plan as a dependent child, but only if the event would have caused the spouse or dependent child to lose coverage under the Plan had the first qualifying event not occurred. You must notify Businessolver at 844-436-7172 within sixty (60) days after the second qualifying event occurs if you want to extend your continuation coverage.
Are There Other Coverage Options Besides COBRA Continuation Coverage?
Yes. Instead of enrolling in COBRA continuation coverage, there may be other coverage options for you and your family through the Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (https://www.healthcare.gov/are-my-children-eligible-for-chip), or other group health plan coverage options (such as a spouse’s plan) through what is called a “special enrollment period.” Some of these options may cost less than COBRA continuation coverage. You can learn more about many of these options at www.healthcare.gov.
Can I Enroll In Medicare Instead of COBRA Continuation Coverage After My Group Health Plan Coverage Ends?
In general, if you don’t enroll in Medicare Part A or B when you are first eligible because you are still employed, after the Medicare initial enrollment period, you have an 8-month special enrollment period to sign up for Medicare Part A or B, beginning on the earlier of:
- The month after your employment ends; or
- The month after group health plan coverage based on current employment ends.
If you don’t enroll in Medicare and elect COBRA continuation coverage instead, you may have to pay a Part B late enrollment penalty and you may have a gap in coverage if you decide you want Part B later. If you elect COBRA continuation coverage and later enroll in Medicare Part A or B before the COBRA continuation coverage ends, the Plan may terminate your continuation coverage. However, if Medicare Part A or B is effective on or before the date of the COBRA election, COBRA coverage may not be discontinued on account of Medicare entitlement, even if you enroll in the other part of Medicare after the date of the election of COBRA coverage.
If you are enrolled in both COBRA continuation coverage and Medicare, Medicare will generally pay first (primary payer) and COBRA continuation coverage will pay second. Certain plans may pay as if secondary to Medicare, even if you are not enrolled in Medicare.
For more information visit https://www.medicare.gov/medicare-and-you.
If you have questions – This notice does not describe continuation coverage or other rights under the Plan. More information about continuation coverage and your rights under the Plan is available in your summary plan description or from the Plan Administrator. Questions concerning your Plan or your COBRA rights should be addressed to Businessolver at 844-436-7172. For more information about your rights under ERISA, including COBRA, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and other laws affecting group health plans, contact the nearest Regional or District Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in your area or visit the EBSA website at www.dol.gov/ebsa or call their toll-free number at 866-444-3272. For more information about health insurance options available through the Health Insurance Marketplace, and to locate someone in your area who you can talk to about the different options, visit www.HealthCare.gov.
Keep your plan informed of address changes – In order to protect your family’s rights, you should keep the HR Service Center informed of any changes in the addresses of family members. You should also keep a copy of any notices you send in your records.
Plan contact information – HR Service Center, 555 East Cheves Street, PO Box 100551, Florence, SC 29501-0551 (29506-2617 for the street address) 843-777-2595.
Duration of COBRA continuation coverage – Under the COBRA rules there are situations in which a group health plan may stop making COBRA available earlier than usually permitted. One of those situations is where the qualified beneficiary obtains coverage under another group health plan.
