COBRA and other Compliance; Cobra, State Continuation and pre-tax activities have certain requirements including non-discrimination testing, employee enrollment/waiver and documention retention. Other programs that require compliance include Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements. Below is a list of some compliance services we coordinate for employer groups:
COBRA; Compliance is necessary for employers who have 20 or more emplyees on average during the prior calendar years. All employees need to receive an initial COBRA notification and an election notice if they or their covered dependents lose eligibility for any reason. Continuation period is available for 18 months with former employee maintaining the same rates and benefits as the other group members. We recommend Ceridian COBRA services for guaranteed compliance, reasonable fees, no agent commission, easy on-line administration, phone support. The estimated fee for groups wtih 20-35 employees is approximately $50 per month. As of February 2012, there is no new subsidies for COBRA. Loss of coverage due to foreign trade may have some premium relief.
State Continuation; Compliance are important for employer sponsored plans. For groups under 20, Oregon State Continuation prevails. State Continuation allows a former covered employed to continue for up to 9 months at their own expense on the prior group plan. The same rates and benefits are maintained. Employees on continuation plans should be listed on the employee census. Carriers require that the continuation period be no longer than 9 months. Employers have the responsibility of informing beneficiaries of conainuation or COBRA oprions.
Pre-tax plan; Most employer sponsored benefit plans now require employee contributions. Pre-tax deductions are allowable by the IRS. The pre-tax deduction saves the employee taxes and saves employers payroll tax. We have various administrators avaialble.
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