糖心Vlog

Health plans must be the same as active population鈥檚 options

COBRA requires many employers to give their workers and their families  their group health benefits through their group health plan once they experience a qualifying event. If you鈥檙e required to offer COBRA to your qualified beneficiaries, you must offer the same health plans that are available to your active employees (as long as those plans are COBRA-eligible plans).

Communication is primarily off-site

Open enrollment for your active employees may include a number of tactics, including benefits fairs and Q&As. However, your COBRA members are not on site, so you may need to adjust your open enrollment communication approach. That鈥檚 why many businesses turn to a third-party administrator to manage their COBRA member contact information and actively communicate with them during open enrollment.

Active versus passive enrollment

There are two types of open enrollment:

• Active, which requires your employees or members to choose their enrollments each year.
• Passive, which automatically re-enrolls them in their previous year鈥檚 enrollments if they take no action.

Because your COBRA members aren鈥檛 on-site, we recommend you offer a passive open enrollment.

There are alternatives to COBRA

COBRA comes at a cost. And your qualified beneficiaries have to pay the entire cost of their coverage. However, you and your qualified beneficiaries both save when they shop for alternative coverage that鈥檚 customizable and more affordable.

Online renewal simplifies experience for members

An online experience can be a big difference maker for your business when you鈥檙e holding open enrollment for off-site COBRA members. It gives them a more modern, easier-to-follow experience that reduces paperwork, manual processes, and member questions.

Stay up-to-date on your employee benefits and COBRA by subscribing to our blog. Simply input your email address in the form on the bottom of your screen.