What information must be included in the COBRA election notice?

Although COBRA is not a new law, there are still mistakes that employer plan sponsors can make when administering their COBRA offering. Among the possible mistakes is failing to include the required content in the COBRA election notice. As a reminder, the following 14 items must be included in every COBRA election notice:

1. Contact information for the plan, including the plan name and the name, address and telephone number of the entity that administers COBRA on behalf of the plan.
2. The qualifying event that has triggered an offer of COBRA. Remember that COBRA is required to be provided due to an employee’s termination of employment, reduction in hours, entitlement to Medicare, death, divorce or a dependent child’s ceasing to be a dependent under the plan terms.
3. An identification of the qualified beneficiaries who are due an independent right to elect COBRA and the date that plan coverage will end if COBRA is not elected.
4. A statement indicating that all COBRA qualified beneficiaries have an independent right to elect COBRA coverage.
5. A provision explaining how to go about electing COBRA coverage, including the deadline by which COBRA must be elected.
6. A provision that lays out the consequences of failing to elect COBRA, including the failure’s effect on future rights of qualified beneficiaries and information on how to revoke a waiver of the right to continuation coverage.
7. A description of the continuation coverage that will be provided if elected (i.e., the benefits that may be continued under COBRA).
8. The duration of COBRA coverage, including the maximum number of months that continuation is available if elected, the date COBRA would terminate and any situations that would cause the maximum COBRA coverage period to be shortened.
9. A description of situations where COBRA may be extended due to a second qualifying event.
10. A description of how qualified beneficiaries may provide notice of a second qualifying event or disability determination.
11. COBRA premium amounts for each qualified beneficiary.
12. Premium payment procedures, including due dates.
13. An explanation of the importance of keeping the plan administrator informed of qualified beneficiaries’ address(es).
14. A statement indicating that more complete information about the right to continuation under COBRA may be found in the plan SPD.

Any COBRA election notice that does not include all the items above would be considered deficient and could subject the employer to a lawsuit by COBRA qualified beneficiaries and/or DOL investigation and penalties. Helpfully, the DOL provides a model notice that is available here.

Even if the employer utilizes a third party to administer COBRA, compliance with COBRA regulations is still ultimately the employer’s responsibility. As such, employer plan sponsors who rely on a third party to provide the COBRA election notice should routinely ensure that the notice, as provided, includes all the elements required under the COBRA regulations.