Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - The American Rescue Plan Act’s COBRA Subsidy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Podcast: Employers and the American Rescue Plan - Employment Law This Week® - #WorkforceWednesday
How the American Rescue Plan Act Affects COBRA
#WorkforceWednesday: The American Rescue Plan, OSHA’s New COVID-19 Directive, and NY Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine PTO - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - DOL’s Guidance on Continued COVID-19 Timeframe Relief
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
COBRA: Avoid Getting Snakebit! (Notice Update, Deadline Update, Litigation Update)
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
Employers: Benefits Considerations Post-Pandemic [More with McGlinchey Ep. 3]
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
Has the Affordable Care Act influenced COBRA? What if my employer fails to offer COBRA?
On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed legislation to end the COVID-19 national emergency effective immediately, including ending the requirement to extend COBRA deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plan administrators...more
The Biden administration previously announced its intent to end the COVID-19 National Emergency (NE) and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023 (read our series introduction for more information). On April...more
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Health and Human Services (the “departments”) have published FAQs explaining...more
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, federal agencies have published FAQs explaining how the end of the PHE will affect previously extended deadlines relating to COBRA, HIPAA special...more
On February 18, President Biden announced that the COVID-19 National Emergency would continue beyond March 1, 2022, for up to another year. As a result of the continuing National Emergency, the “tolling” of several important...more
In Notice 2021-58 (the Notice), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) clarified that the one-year tolling relief periods for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) elections and initial premium payments run...more
As previously reported, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides for government-subsidized COBRA payments for a COBRA qualified beneficiary who becomes eligible for COBRA due to a reduction in hours or involuntary...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) mandates that group health plans that are subject to COBRA must provide coverage to certain assistance eligible individuals (AEI) at no cost for periods of coverage between April 1,...more
The American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) requires the full cost of COBRA premiums to be subsidized for COBRA continuation coverage during the period from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 (“Subsidy Period”) of certain...more
This is a reminder that a COBRA notice deadline is approaching. It applies to employers that are subject to the federal COBRA rules....more
Carlton Fields tax attorney Lowell Walters explains what we can learn about a recent case in which a former employee claimed to be owed benefits, and provides suggestions on how companies can protect themselves. The video...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”) includes a 100% COBRA temporary subsidy for certain eligible individuals (“Assistance Eligible Individuals”) who lost health care coverage due to an involuntary termination of...more
On February 26, 2021, the DOL issued guidance regarding the impact of that statutory limitation on the previously announced deadline extensions, in EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01. Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, in...more
As discussed in our prior blog post, on April 28, 2020, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Treasury Department (the “Agencies”) published joint guidance...more
At the last minute, certain suspended COBRA, HIPAA and claims procedure deadlines that were set to expire on February 28, 2021 have been further extended. As we discussed last year the Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal...more
Employers are facing uncertainty as to the expiration of the COVID-19 relief the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued in a joint guidance on May 4, 2020. The joint guidance requires...more
As we described in our LawFlash from last spring, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the Agencies) issued EBSA Notice 2020-01...more
There has been a recent flurry of regulatory guidance issued affecting employee benefit plans. Most of the guidance addresses challenges specifically created by the COVID-19 pandemic, while other guidance is applicable...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has followed the guidance, jointly issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor and the Treasury, that extends benefits-related deadlines...more
Plan participants and their beneficiaries may now have extra time to exercise some of their rights under the employee benefit plans in which they participate. ...more
The IRS and DOL issued guidance on May 4, 2020 that adds a new level complexity to COBRA administration for employer-sponsored plans. In short, the relief suspends many key participant deadlines during the so-called...more
As employers start to think about asking their employees to return to work, in addition to all of the employment law issues, there are also employee benefit plan considerations. Employers need to consider all their benefit...more
This post summarizes the health and welfare benefit plan-related deadline extensions described in IRS Notice 2020-23 issued April 9, 2020 and the DOL and Treasury Joint Notice issued April 28, 2020 (the “Joint Notice”). IRS...more
On May 4, 2020, the Department of Labor and Department of Treasury (the Departments) issued joint guidance requiring certain COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA deadlines be determined without regard to the “Outbreak Period,” which began...more
New employee benefits guidance temporarily extends certain time frames and deadlines for participant actions and relieves some plan administration compliance obligations during the COVID-19 National Emergency (the “COVID-19...more