COBRA and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

President Obama signed into law The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  This new law contains provisions that may effect your COBRA continuation rights.

 

Here are the possible ways you may be eligible:

 

  • If you were involuntarily terminated on or after September 1, 2008 and are not eligible for other health coverage (such as a spouse's health plan or Medicare), then you may be eligible for a 65 percent reduction of your COBRA premium for up to 9 months.
  • If you were involuntarily terminated on or after September 1, 2008 and you didn't elect COBRA or if you elected COBRA and have since dropped coverage, you may have an additional opportunity to elect it now and take advantage of the premium reduction.  The 65 percent premium reduction would apply to payments for March 1, 2009 and forward.  The new law does not provide for premium reduction retroactive to September 1, 2008.
  • If you were involuntarily terminated on or after September 1, 2008 and you did elect COBRA and are still covered by your COBRA coverage, you may have an opportunity to take advantage of the 65 percent premium reduction.

 The IRS has published a Q & A publication defining who is qualified for premium assistance under this new law.  Click here to view that document.

If you had an Involuntary Termination of Employment on or after September 1, 2008, you will be receiving additional information regarding your eligibility for a premium reduction and / or a second opportunity to elect COBRA continuation no later than April 18, 2009.

 

While we understand that you may have additional questions regarding this new law, we ask that at this time that you do not contact your former employer or HR Simplified for questions.  Please see the informational links on the right hand side of this web page for additional information.

 

You and your eligible dependents will receive additional information regarding your rights in the coming weeks.

 

If you are currently covered by COBRA please continue to make your FULL premium payment using the coupons previously issued to you.  If it is later determined that you are eligible for the premium reduction, any over payments for March 2009 and April 2009 will be credited to your account or refunded to you.

Thank you.