C.O.B.R.A

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) was enacted into law on April 7, 1986. This law provides that all employers with twenty or more employees who sponsor group health plans must permit covered persons who lose coverage under the plan, as a result of certain events, to elect to continue their coverage for 18 months, or in some cases up to 36 months, on a self-pay basis. Persons entitled to make this election are referred to in the regulations as "qualified beneficiaries." COBRA is designed to enable employees and their families who lose coverage to continue to have access to group health coverage at group rates until they can get another job or otherwise arrange for replacement coverage.

While COBRA is simple in its aim, the details of the law are extremely complex, and the TravisCobra software system can help meet the administrative requirements of the law. The law has changed constantly due to legislative changes and case law developments. Yet, the courts and regulatory agencies have not adequately clarified some of the critical aspects of the law. Add to this the large penalties that have been applied to those who fail to comply with the law and it becomes obvious that a basic knowledge of the law and a professionally designed software package are essential to administer COBRA continuation coverage properly.

Knowledge of COBRA administration can be found in book form from the Aspen Publishers entitled "COBRA Handbook," the Employee Benefits Institute of America's (EBIA) "COBRA: The Developing Law" or Thompson Publishing's "Mandated Health Benefits: The COBRA Guide." You may also elect to take one of the seminars on COBRA administration provided by organizations such as the EBIA. Of course we believe that you have already arrived at the site where you can find the finest COBRA administration software.

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, was designed to promote the ability of employees and their dependents to move from one employer to another without having "pre-existing condition" exclusions assessed against them under their new employers' group health plan. HIPAA requires employers to provide a "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" to employees and their dependents, who lose coverage, which details the amount of time the employee or dependent was covered under the group health plan. TravisCobra automatically produces the "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" when required, allowing employers and Plan Administrators to print the legally-required notices with ease.

Update: 2004... In 2004, HIPAA Compliance became a reality for all benefit and healthcare providers and administrators. For more information on how HIPAA could affect you, click here.

Update: 2003... In 2003, Travis shipped our State Continuation Modules designed to help with over 40 individual state laws. When WebCOBRA.com was launched in 2005, these state modules were included at no charge.