Guide to Online Notices Quick, Easy, Affordable

Transcription

1 Guide to Online Notices Quick, Easy, Affordable General Line: 206/ COBRA Help Needed? > COBRA Help Web Tour and FAQ? From Order Page click on More Detail

2 TABLE of CONTENTS I. Who is COBRA Management Services?...1 II. III. IV. Why Use OnLine Notices? Quick, Easy and Affordable...1 Who Should Use Online Notices? User Criteria...1 What s Included?...1 V. When is the Order Fulfilled and Confirmed?...2 VI. Obtaining Proof of Mailing and Data from CMS...2 VII. Get Started: Payment Method and Registration...2 VIII. Help During the Order Process...3 IX. What Information Do I Need?...3 X. Ordering an Election Form...3 XI. What if Someone Elects COBRA?...5 XII. Ordering the Initial Notice (General Notice)...6 XIII. COBRA Help Options!...6 XIV. Election and Premium Administration Options...6 COBRA Help at i

3 I. Who is COBRA Management Services? We are a full service COBRA administration company serving over 400 employers. We are headquartered in Seattle, WA. with offices in Bellevue, WA and Tucson, AZ. Since 1999, we have provided COBRA solutions to employers and COBRA TPAs that include full outsourcing, COBRA software, seminars and, now, OnLine Notices to serve the needs of lower volume employers. The web-based technology is also available to COBRA TPAs or can be sponsored by brokers and advisors for their customers. II. Why Use OnLine Notices? Quick, Easy and Affordable One of your biggest COBRA compliance concerns is issuing a correct COBRA notice with a defensible audit trail. Online Notices will do that for you for only $16 per Notice. All you do is order the notice and we issue it with a USPS certificate of mailing and provide you with a copy of the cover sheet and, if applicable, the COBRA Fact Sheet. We also maintain an audit trail of the data, notice, and proof of mailing for 12-months. You can start and stop at any time. If you have a COBRA question or need additional resources, you can use our COBRA Help service at > COBRA Help. III. Who Should Use Online Notices? User Criteria Low turnover rate generating 20 or less notices per year, Low COBRA election rate as you handle the on-going post-election administration unless otherwise arranged with us, Premiums that are due on the first of the month, No more than four COBRA Plans, as defined by four sets of COBRA rates, plus a Flexible Spending Account, Willing to pay the retail fee of $16.00 by credit card through either PayPal - or by placing a VISA or MasterCard on file with us. If you place a credit card on file, the cost of each Notice is $ Note: it s possible your fee is waived or reduced based due to a sponsorship arrangement. IV. What s Included? Initial Rights Notice (General Notice): the COBRA notice and cover page for mailing. Election Notice: the COBRA notice, fact sheet with names, dates, deadlines, plans, rates and election instructions, election form, and a mailing cover sheet. Certificate of Mailing: all notices are mailed with a USPS Certificate of Mailing. Election Confirmation/Payment Instructions: a template is provided with your first order. Free COBRA QandA with other compliance resources and assistance available for a small fee. COBRA Help at 1

4 V. When is the Order Fulfilled and Confirmed? A notice will be mailed no more than two working days after payment is received. On the mailing date, you will receive a final confirmation from us along with an Adobe Acrobat pdf file of the cover sheet and, for an election notice, the COBRA Fact Sheet. We retain the USPS Certificate of Mailing and audit trail of data entered for 12-months. VI. Obtaining Proof of Mailing and Data from CMS For a small fee, we can supply it to you. Contact us at notices@cobramanagement.com. VII. Get Started: Payment Method and Registration Your options are PayPal or placing a VISA or MasterCard credit card on file. If the latter, the cost is $18.00 instead of $ If you use PayPal - it s easier to register for the service in advance of placing your first order. Otherwise, you will need to register for PayPal at the end of the first order. The first time you Sign In you will be registering for the service. You will need to use an address. We will you the system generated password that will be long and impossible to remember. But, it s secure. If your browser is set to remember passwords, it will not be a problem. But, you can change it at anytime by using the change password function to the right of Sign In. Change Password Enter the password received by . Then, click on Continue to start your first order. COBRA Help at 2

5 VIII. Help During the Order Process There are Help buttons throughout the order process. But, if you must abandon the order before completion, the data entered will be retained and available to you the next time you Sign In. We suggest that you quickly scan the FAQ before placing your first order. IX. What Information Do I Need? Some of the requested information is straightforward and will be retained from order to order. Other information may require that you reference payroll, a human resource database or actually obtain an enrollment form. X. Ordering an Election Form This section will address those areas that may require some thought or information gathering. Throughout the order process, there will be help buttons for you to use. If you have questions on COBRA, our free CCH COBRA QandA can be useful. You can find it from and, then, COBRA Help. You can also contact us with questions or subscribe to the COBRA Help Desk. Company and COBRA Plan Administrator Info: This information will be retained from order-to-order unless changed and shared between the Initial Notice and the Election Notice. Grace Period and Premium Due Date: This information will be retained from orderto-order unless changed. Names: If dependents are losing coverage, you must have the names of the spouse and each child. Mailing address. If a spouse is living at a different address, you need that address, too, as a separate notice must be mailed to their home. Qualifying Event type. You will choose one from the drop-down box. Please remember: a voluntary drop in coverage is not a COBRA qualifying event. Date of the Qualifying Event. Such as last day at work, date of divorce decree, date a child turns age 19, etc. Loss of Active Coverage Date: The date active coverage ends. Usually, this is the end of the month following the qualifying event. Although, it can be later if a special arrangement has been made as part of a severance package. Tip: Such arrangements must be allowable under the terms of your insurance contract or policy. COBRA Help at 3

6 COBRA Plans/Rates. You can include up to four COBRA plans, plus an FSA, for each family unit. For each plan, you will enter the rate and coverage class in effect at the time of the qualifying event. The COBRA Fact Sheet clearly advises the qualified beneficiary(s) to contact you if different coverage class options are desired. And, you will be able to convey the election rules in Describe Your Plan in the next section. Tip: If you don t know your COBRA rates, be aware that COBRA rates can be different from your active rates for a spouse or child(ren). Ex-employee rates, on the other hand, are straightforward. For example, a spouse only COBRA rate can be the same as the active employee rate OR it can be the active spouse rate. You may need to contact your insurance representative or company to confirm your plan s COBRA rates. Describe Your Plan: This gives you the opportunity to describe the election rules from the drop-down box. For example, you can pick and choose between the COBRA plans. You can also create custom instructions in Comments. FSA: Please read the General Instructions before making your selection. Special COBRA rules apply to medical reimbursement accounts. And, the provisions of your FSA plan may also impact your use of this optional section. Final Review: You will have a change to review your data before completing the order. When you are satisfied with the order, click on the final Continue button at the bottom of the page. COBRA Help at 4

7 Payment process (if applicable) is the final step. If you want to pay with a credit card on file ($18), you must provide us with the info. If you have not done so at this point, we will contact you. Signout and wait for us to call or . Click on PayPal button to complete order by PayPal. If you are not registered with PayPal by now, you will need to register at this point so have a credit card ready. XI. What if Someone Elects COBRA? On-going administration will be your responsibility. The Election Form will be returned to you. It may be necessary to have them sign the carrier s enrollment form. You can use the COBRA Confirmation/Payment Instructions template that we supply for free. Once the initial premium is received, you will reinstate them on the plans elected. For full COBRA procedures, a manual and monthly newsletter, subscribe to our Help Desk. You can also hire us to the on-going administration or use our COBRA compliance software, Solo. COBRA Help at 5

8 XII. Ordering the Initial Notice (General Notice) Throughout the order process, there will be help buttons for you to use. Company and COBRA Plan Administrator Info: This information will be retained from order-to-order and between the Initial and the Election Notice unless changed. Employee and Covered Spouse Names Mailing address. If a spouse is living at a different address, you need that address, too, as a separate notice must be mailed to their home. Final Review: You will have a change to review your data before completing the order. When you are satisfied with the order, click on the final Continue button at the bottom of the page. Payment process (if applicable) is the final step. See page five for a graphic. XIII. COBRA Help Options! Three help options are available: free QandA, $20 per question, and a full subscription to the Help Desk. XIV. Election and Premium Administration Options With Notices OnLine, you are responsible for election, premium and on-going administration. We can help you with these important tasks through our administration company, COBRA Management Services, LLC. or by providing you with COBRA management software. Contact us for more details. COBRA Help at 6