Using TravisCobra Optimally For COBRA Notice Mailings

Houston, TX -- September 13, 2006 -- As a user of TravisCobra, we know you are well aware of the administrative responsibilities COBRA entails. Dozens of regulations need to be followed so that individuals entitled to COBRA receive proper notification of all pertinent information, but sometimes guidelines as to how to meet those regulations are vague.

You may already be aware of a ruling issued recently by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit which states that sufficient evidence must be provided by the administrator to show a COBRA mailing actually occurred. The full text of this ruling can be found here.

The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. Since you may not be involved in any of those states, you may be of the opinion that a ruling from that Court may not apply to you. However, you still may find their decision interesting.

In the case, an individual whose qualifying event occurred in 1993 claimed to have never received a COBRA notice. The administrator responsible for sending this notice was brought to court and could not prove to the Eighth Circuit's satisfaction that the COBRA notice had been sent. The Court's ruling states the COBRA law requires the administrator to send notices in a suitable timeframe and keep verifiable records that these notices were sent. The Eighth Circuit did not see enough proof the administrator's stated procedures for sending notices were actually followed in this particular case. Therefore, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

What this ruling appears to point out is that the administrator supplying a COBRA notice does not have to prove the notice was received by the individual, but the administrator may be asked to prove that the notice in question was actually sent to the individual. Furthermore, the administrator cannot only show that a procedure to send these notices is in place, but the administrator must be able to demonstrate that the procedure in place was followed.

The 8th Circuit case points up the need to (1) have a demonstrable and systemized methodology for producing COBRA letters, (2) a way to prove what the letter said, and (3) a way to indicate that your methodology was followed.

TravisCobra contains several reports that allow you to demonstrate that COBRA notices were created and mailed. The Proof of Mailing and the Certificate of Mailing Plus reports, both of which have been in the system since the early 1990's, can be used in this type of situation.

Also, if you have the Document Storage and Retrieval (DSR) Module, you can scan images into the administrator record of your TravisCobra system. This will allow you to store not only copies of the letters produced by the system or scanned in by you, but also can retain an electronic copy of any proof of mailing report you have in a centralized location. Once saved, copies of any letter or stored proof of mailing report can be reproduced at any time.

You may ask if you should send COBRA notices by certified mail. Certified mail may not be the best idea. Not only is certified mail not a COBRA requirement, but if it is returned to you it can also serve as proof an individual did not receive a COBRA notice. If that occurs, you are then obligated to follow through and make sure the individual receives the notice in question. If a proof of mailing report is used, this seems to be enough to satisfy your responsibility.

As part of our continuing effort to make your COBRA administration as easy yet thorough as possible, we are adding some capabilities to the next "mini-release" of TravisCobra (to be dubbed Release 8.002X) scheduled to be made available in late-October, which are designed to help you demonstrate that your COBRA letters were actually mailed. This latest update will allow you to automatically print the Proof of Mailing or Certificate of Mailing Plus report immediately after running Automatic Letter Processing. This new feature will force the report of your choice to be automatically printed so that the generation of the proof of mailing report is a seamless process.

Once we notify you of that mini-release and you implement its application files, TravisCobra will make it easier for you to satisfy any proof of mailing requirement. Also, we are offering special prices on the DSR Module at this time, and if you would like to explore that module with our Sales Staff, please call TravisMarketing at 866 802 2312.

For more information about TravisCobra, or any other products that Travis Software provides, please contact Travis Marketing at (281) 496-3737, email Travis Software at inf@travisoft.com or visit Travis Software at www.travisoft.com.