Entering COBRA Elections and Waivers
This section describes how to enter COBRA elections and waivers.
|
Page Name |
Definition Name |
Usage |
|---|---|---|
|
COBRA_PARTIC_ENT1 |
Record elections or waivers for COBRA coverage. |
Qualified COBRA beneficiaries can:
Select COBRA for one or more plan types.
Waive COBRA for all plan types.
Revoke a waiver for one or more plan types.
Unlike PeopleSoft Benefits Administration, COBRA participants can make enrollment decisions at the plan type level.
Employees and dependents are individually qualified for COBRA coverage, and they can choose to be covered as individuals.
For example, suppose that an employee with Employee plus Spouse coverage terminates employment and loses all regular health coverage. The employee and the spouse both qualify for COBRA coverage. The spouse can select either to be covered individually as a nonemployee (even if the employee doesn't elect coverage), she can continue to be covered under the employee as a dependent, or the spouse may elect Spouse Only coverage (if the terminated employee coverage code is set to Spouse Allowed).
When you enter elections for qualified COBRA participants, the system sets their initial event status to Election Entered.
Use the COBRA Participant Elections page (COBRA_PARTIC_ENT1) to record elections or waivers for COBRA coverage.
Navigation:
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
COBRA Election |
Indicate whether to elect or waive COBRA coverage. To revoke a waiver of coverage, change the selection from Waive to Elect. Waivers cannot be revoked after the election end date. The current date is automatically set as the election, waive, or revoke date, although you can override that value for elections. |
Participant Enrollment
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Plan Type |
Enter the elected option choices. |
Covrg Begin (coverage begin), Covrg End (coverage end), and Election End |
Predetermined by the COBRA process. |
COBRA Election |
Elect or waive each plan type. The election or waive date is automatically set, although you can override the election date. |
Provider ID |
For health plan types. Enter the name of the employee's doctor, an ID number, or any other format that the health provider requires. |
Previously Seen |
Select to indicate that the employee is a current patient of the indicated physician. |
When an election has been entered, validated, and enrolled, the election cannot be changed without COBRA reprocessing. After reprocessing, you can add new elections or make election changes if the coverage election date is on or before the coverage election end date and if the elections have not been entered.
The system reviews plan type, option code, and dependent/beneficiary elections made for qualified COBRA participants when their elections are saved. If all of the plan types for which the participant is eligible reflect either an enrollment election or waiver, the system changes the participant's initial event status to Enrollment Completed and the process status to Closed for Processing. If some of the plans have not had an entry made, the participant's initial event status changes to Enrolled (for the specific plan), and the process status remains Open for Processing. In either case, if errors are discovered, the initial event status becomes Election Error.
Enrollment in Health or FSA Plans
If the initial election status is Enrollment Completed or Enrolled, you can access health plan information, FSA plan information, or both in the Health Benefits and FSA Benefits pages.
Creation of Non-Employee Status
If a dependent elects individual COBRA coverage or has a qualifying second event, then that nonemployee participant receives a system-generated employee ID.
Notification to Billing System
If Benefits Billing is selected in the Installation Table, the system enrolls validated and enrolled COBRA participants in the Benefits Billing system for elected plan types. The system also sends COBRA surcharges and coverage start and end dates to Benefits Billing.
Validation and Enrollment Error Messages
You can view error messages generated during validation and enrollment either by using the Process Messages page or by running the COBRA Error report. Each time the COBRA validation and enrollment process runs, it deletes error messages from the previous run.