Ep 99: DOL Deadline Extension Guidance and Potential COBRA Subsidies

In this episode, Chase Cannon and Suzanne Spradley look at recently published DOL guidance establishing new parameters relating to deadline suspensions for COBRA notices, elections and payments, HIPAA special enrollment elections, and appeals/claims filings. Chase outlines the background and examples on the DOL’s new approach to the one-year suspension period, which is now based on the individual’s or plan’s deadline itself (not a hard stop on February 28, 2021, as many had thought). Chase and Suzanne then dig into the newest federal COVID-19 relief bill that is through the House and with the Senate, focusing on potential COBRA subsidies that could create additional employer (and COBRA administrator) compliance obligations