Employers wanting to get an early start on providing a required notice to employees of coverage options under health insurance exchanges just got some help from the federal government. On May 8, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a model…
Tag Archives: qualified beneficiary
DOL Issues Model Notice/Guidance on Exchange Options, also Updates COBRA Election Notice
May 9, 2013 – 4:06 pm
$1.3M Settlement in COBRA/ARRA Class Action Now Final
April 26, 2013 – 11:15 am
On April 23, a federal district court in Alabama gave final approval to a settlement agreement under which an employer and plan administrator will pay $1.3 million to a group of former employees who alleged they never received COBRA election…
3rd Circuit Rejects Call to Change $3K COBRA Notice Penalty
April 19, 2013 – 2:07 pm
In rejecting a qualified beneficiary’s attempt to increase a nearly $3,000 COBRA notice penalty, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the employer/plan administrator’s efforts to remedy the violation did not warrant any higher award. The court also…
COBRA Penalties Not Needed When QB Got ‘Free’ Coverage, 8th Circuit Affirms
February 1, 2013 – 12:07 pm
An employer/plan administrator that tried to make good on a COBRA administrative error got more reinforcement that its efforts greatly minimized its legal liability. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the fact that the aggrieved qualified beneficiary received…
Short-lived Sale Option Did Not Negate COBRA Small-employer Exception
January 15, 2013 – 11:54 am
A former employee argued that her former employer, which employed fewer than 20 employees (and thus was exempt from COBRA) for eight months of the year, formed an affiliated service group with another employer and thus employed more than 20…
COBRA Penalties and Legal Costs Due to Notice Failure, Evasive Answers Rise to $126K
December 3, 2012 – 3:07 pm
An employer/plan administrator continues to get an expensive lesson on the risks of having both inadequate COBRA notice procedures and poor explanations of how those procedures work. An “inefficient, unwieldy” notice process — coupled with evasive and contradictory answers from…
Court Reverses Award of Deceased’s Pension to Stepchildren
August 13, 2012 – 4:30 pm
By Jane Meacham An appellate court sided with a plan administrator’s decision that a deceased plan participant’s stepsons are not entitled to his pension benefits, a ruling that may set the direction for similar plan interpretations under ERISA law. In the…
Courts, Agencies Take Mixed Actions Affecting Same-sex Partners
August 13, 2012 – 2:23 pm
Branches of the federal government have taken divergent actions affecting same-sex partners. A federal district court upheld a state law defining marriage as occurring between a man and a woman; meanwhile, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has issued final…
Full 9th Circuit Refuses to Review California’s Same-sex Marriage Ban
June 7, 2012 – 1:40 pm
Employers can expect continued uncertainty regarding whether they will need to adjust their plans, documents and policies to accommodate same-sex spouses. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 5 refused a petition that the full bench of the…
Federal DOMA Unconstitutional, First Circuit Says, But Doesn’t Disturb State Laws
May 31, 2012 – 5:15 pm
Employers and plan administrators hoping clarity will soon dispel the confusing tangle of divergent laws governing same-sex marriage and how they must address it in their benefit plans and HR policies have longer to wait. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court…