COBRA Administration provides health coverage for your employees and dependents after they leave your organization. The COBRA law is complex and organizations often require third parties to ensure compliance. NM&A offers full COBRA compliance and makes every effort to provide for the specific needs of employers and their company.

If a company employs 20 or more full or part-time employees, it is subject to COBRA regulations. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) mandates that any organization with 20 or more full or part-time employees offer a "temporary continuation" of group health and Section 125 benefits to employees (and covered dependents) upon experiencing a "qualifying event."

Background
On April 7, 1986, federal law (Public Law 99-272, Title X) was enacted as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). The law amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to provide continuation of group health coverage, that otherwise would have been terminated, to employees and their covered dependents. COBRA establishes specific criteria for Plans, Qualified Beneficiaries, and Qualifying Events.

COBRA Regulations
Employers who maintain group health insurance plan(s) for their employees must comply with the provisions of the law. However, employers who employ less than 20 full or part time employees in 50% of the previous calendar year are exempt from these stipulations. (Each part time employee counts as a fraction of an employee, with the fraction equal to the number of hours that a part time employee worked divided by the hours an employee must work to be considered full time.) Also exempt are Church-Related plans and Federal Government plans.

Under COBRA, a group health plan ordinarily is defined as a plan that provides medical benefits for the employer's own employees and their dependents through insurance or another mechanism such as a trust, health maintenance organization, self-funded pay-as-you-go basis, reimbursement or some combination of these. Medical benefits provided under the terms of the plan and available through COBRA may include:

• Inpatient and Outpatient Hospital Care
• Medical Flexible Spending Accounts
• Physician Care
• Surgery and other Major Medical Benefits
• Prescription Drugs
• Any other Medical Benefits such as Dental and Vision

Notably, Life Insurance, Disability and Workers Compensation are not covered under COBRA.

Administrative Systems
Outsourcing COBRA administration relieves companies of the burdensome tracking, notification, and billing processes. NM&A provides COBRA expertise, tracking, record keeping, and reporting of all COBRA activity. We follow court cases and changes in the interpretation of COBRA law to modify our procedures and letters accordingly. Our COBRA administration is capable of providing the following services:

• Prove that notifications were sent within their specified time frames.
• Invoice monthly premium payments.
• Maintain a record keeping system to track length of COBRA coverage, elections, and the payment history for each COBRA continuant.
• Report all COBRA activity.

NM&A provides full COBRA compliance and can include the COBRA administration as part of the administrative package offered to your company.