American Rescue Plan Act and COVID-19 Extended Deadlines - Are you Prepared?

In April 2020 the DOL and IRS issued joint guidance to allow certain employee benefit deadlines to be extended during the COVID19 National Emergency.  This impacted COBRA, special enrolment notifications and claim adjudication.  Recent joint guidance has clarified that the time has run out for SOME of the deadlines but not all.  Plan administrators and third-party administrators as well as other insurance professionals now find themselves with trying to determine which deadlines have ended and which deadlines to extend.  Some events will need to be handled on an individual basis!  The DOL and IRS have also highlighted that Plan Administrators do have fiduciary responsibilities to handle this right.  Join us as we review the impact, issues and changes to employee benefit administration procedures that need to be implemented today.

Once completed the employer or benefit professional should be able to:

•  Understand the new guidance as it applies to COBRA, claims and special enrolment timelines.
• Understand the issues and the impact this has on the employer’s bottom line.
• Identify individuals who will need to have further notice requirements today.
• Handle some of the complex issues that arise due to the special nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and employee benefit administration.

• An overview of COBRA, claim adjudication and special enrolment timelines before COVID19.
• Review the COVID19 National Emergency Extension of COBRA, claim and special enrolment timeframes as of March 1, 2020.
• Discussion of where we are at today with the timeline extensions and possible future changes.
• Discussion of what an employer needs to do today to comply with the employee benefit notification extensions.
• Impact of pending legislation in Congress

If you wonder how to answer the following questions, this webinar is for you:

• How has COVID-19 impacted COBRA Administration?
• How have claim adjudication and special enrolment notifications been impacted?
• When will the National Emergency Outbreak Period End for various employee administration events?
• What could happen if an employer cancels COBRA coverage during the COVID19 National Emergency?
• Are insurance carriers responsible for helping Plan Administrators comply with new guidance and regulations?
• What additional notices are required and/or should be provided to current COBRA eligible participants and active employees?
• What information should be tracked to comply now and in the future?
• Is there any new legislation on the horizon to affect employee benefit administration?

Business owners, CEO, CFO, Human Resource Managers, and staff, third party administrators or other benefit professionals who handle daily plan administration.

Robin Benton, has worked for 37 years in the welfare benefit administration and compliance industry.  She spent 17 years in the insurance field, and worked in every aspect of the industry, including billing, product design, compliance and computer automation. The complex field of Federal Regulations, including communicating and implementing them efficiently, is her specialty.

As an industry expert, she had been responsible for training a national sales force, being a national speaker and helped develop programs to train other Third-Party Administrators, benefit and human resource professionals.

A small business owner and CEO of BCL Systems, Inc., she has helped small- to mid-sized companies navigate the confusing realm of Federal Regulations for over 20 years.