COBRA Participant Aid Information

HR Highlights

Recently a letter and documents were mailed to current and former SU employees that had a COBRA-qualifying event after September 1, 2008. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allows eligible individuals to pay only 35 percent of the typical COBRA premium. The premium reduction applies to periods of health coverage beginning on or after March 1, 2009 and lasts for up to nine months. Additional election opportunities for health benefits under COBRA are also available under specific circumstances.

The premium reduction for COBRA continuation coverage is available to "assistance eligible individuals." An "assistance eligible individual" is the employee or a member of his/her family who meets all of the following requirements:

is eligible for COBRA continuation coverage at any time between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009;
elects COBRA coverage; and
is eligible for COBRA as a result of the employee's involuntary termination between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.

Those individuals who are eligible for other group health coverage (such as a spouse's plan) or Medicare are not eligible for the premium reduction. The premium assistance is also phased out for high income individuals. There is no premium reduction for premiums paid for periods of coverage prior to March 1, 2009.

Individuals involuntarily terminated from September 1, 2008 through April 17, 2009 who did not elect COBRA when it was first offered OR who did elect COBRA, but are no longer enrolled (for example because they were unable to continue paying the premium) will have the opportunity to elect COBRA within 60 days of this notice. If COBRA coverage is elected, it begins March 1, 2009 or the termination date, whichever is later.

EBS-RMSCO is the third party administrator that handles the plan coordination and billing for SU COBRA participants. Any questions about COBRA or the premium reduction eligibility should be directed to EBS-RMSCO at 315-671-9893 or 1-800-828-0078.

Helpful Links

Department of Labor COBRA Fact Sheet

Questions? Contact the HR Service Center at 443-4042 or e-mail hrservic@syr.edu.