Am I Eligible For COBRA If The Business Has Under 20 Employees?
An employer only has 8-9 employees, so they are not subject to COBRA continuation requirements, yet they have elected to provide these benefits to this one employee (and refer to the benefits as COBRA benefits). The group has certified to the insurance company that they are subject to COBRA. How can the group certify it is subject to COBRA if there are not at least 20 employees?
No. The COBRA Law Is Meant For Employers With 20 Or More Employees
If the business has less than 20 employees they are not subject to the federal COBRA law and are not required to offer continuation of workplace health insurance. However, many states have Mini-COBRA laws that enforce employer continuation of insurance where the business has 19 or fewer employees. Depending on the state you live in, the deadlines and length of time you have for continuing insurance may be different than federal COBRA.QUICK CHECK
COBRA Eligibility
Employer Responsibilities
When an employee loses their group health insurance, the COBRA law compels the employer to allow that worker to stay on their health plan. The employer is responsible for notifying the employee of their right to choose COBRA and collecting the full premium payment from the former employee. Sometimes, workplaces will use a third party administrator to facilitate the COBRA enrollments and payments. If you are unsure who the administrator is, you will want to contact the HR department of the business the health insurance is through.
COBRA Third-Party Administrators
Your COBRA plan may be managed by a third-party administrator. Many employers work with the following:
- ADP COBRA
- BASIC COBRA
- BAS' COBRA Control Services
- BenefitConnect EHR
- BenefitSolver COBRA
- Burnham & Flower
- BRI COBRA (Benefits Resource)
- bswift COBRA
- COBRAPoint Benaissance
- Employee Benefits Corp (EBC)
- Lifetime Benefit Solutions
- Navia Benefit Solutions
- Optum Financial
- Paychex
- Payflex
- Paycom COBRA
- PlanSource
- Total Administrative Service Corporation (TASC)
- WageWorks / Conexis
- WEX (formerly Discovery Benefits)
If you are unsure who your plan administrator is, reach out to the human resources department of the company that provided the health insurance you had.
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