Entering a Qualifying Event or a Subsequent Qualifying Event
Access the Qualifying Events Revisions form.
To enter a qualifying event or a subsequent qualifying event:
Complete these required fields:
Employee or Dependent Number
Qualifying Event
Date of Qualifying Event
When you enter the date of the qualifying event, the system populates these fields:
Notice to Convert Date
Date Event Reported
Last Date to Elect
Administrator Number
You can override the Notice to Convert Date manually. When you enter a different date, you receive a warning message that states that you are about to override the notice to convert date that the system calculated based on the COBRA constants. On the Warning COBRA Change Confirmation form, click Yes to accept the date you entered and continue, or click No to cancel.
Complete these fields, as required:
Date Notice Mailed
Date Notice Received
Date - Reported Admin.
Date of Death
Date of Disability
Date Terminated
Medicare Entitlement Date
Date of Retirement
Date - Bankruptcy
Select the Additional Employee Info tab and review the related employee information.
Click OK to save the records.
Note:If the qualifying event that you enter is not valid for the employee according to the criteria that you set up in the Qualifying Event Constants program (P08991), you receive a warning message when you click OK. The qualifying events of death, divorce, and dependent coming of age are valid for dependents rather than employees. When you set up qualifying event constants, an option titled Send COBRA Letter To Employee is available. You select this option when the qualifying event is valid for the employee and clear the option when the qualifying event is not valid for the employee.
On Warning Qualified Event Not Valid for Employee, click Yes to create qualified event and coverage information for the dependents who are related to the employee. Alternatively, click No to cancel.
To enter a subsequent qualifying event, repeat steps 1 through 4.
When you click OK, you receive a Subsequent Qualified Event confirmation message. If the qualified beneficiary is or was an employee, subsequent event information might have been created for the beneficiary, as well as for any qualified dependents, which updates the coverage period in the COBRA Subsequent Qualified Event Info. table (F089101). If the qualified beneficiary is a dependent, the system creates subsequent event information for the dependent only. The system does not create subsequent event information unless the event causes an extension of the original coverage period. The system displays a message to indicate whether subsequent event information has been created.
On the Work with Qualifying Events form, complete these fields in the COBRA Letters group box to automatically generate the COBRA notification letter for this qualifying event or the HIPAA notification letter, and then click Produce Letters:
Date Mailed
COBRA Letter Type
If the notice you create is a termination or unavailability notice, complete the Notice Reason Code field.
The system supplies the current date in the Date Notice Mailed column. You can override this date manually if, for example, you printed a letter but did not mail it for a few days. The system also completes the Date Notice Mailed field on the Qualifying Events Revisions form.
To display records with no date in the Date Notice Mailed column, select the Show COBRA Letters To Be Printed option, and then click Find.
To review all of the mail merge documents that you have created, select Display Notices from the Form menu.
Employee or Dependent Number
Enter the address number of the participant as defined in the Participant file table (F08901).
Qualifying Event
Enter a UDC 08/QE that indicates the initial event that qualified a participant for COBRA continuation coverage.
Date of Qualifying Event
Enter the date of the first (initial) event that qualified a participant for COBRA continuation coverage.
Notice to Convert Date
Enter the date plan administrators are required to notify all qualified beneficiaries of their right to convert to the current carrier providing coverage. Typically, this date is within 180 days of COBRA expiration.
Date Event Reported
Enter the date that the COBRA qualifying event is first reported to the employer.
Last Date to Elect
Enter the last date that the participant can elect COBRA coverage. The specified election period is the later of the following:
Sixty days after the date plan coverage terminates.
Sixty days after the date the COBRA letter was mailed to the qualified beneficiary from the plan administrator.
Administrator Number
Enter a number that identifies an address book entry, such as employee, applicant, participant, customer, supplier, tenant, or location.
Date Notice Mailed
Enter the date the election notice was mailed to the qualified beneficiary for the first qualifying event. The system automatically updates this date when you print the election form.
Date Notice Received
Enter the date you receive the initial notice back from the participant indicating whether the participant elects or rejects COBRA continuation.
Date Reported Administrator
Enter the date that the COBRA event is first reported to the plan administrator.
Date of Death
Enter the date on which the participant died.
Date of Disability
Enter the date the participant's disability occurred, if applicable.
Date Terminated
Enter the date that the employee was terminated, if applicable.
Medicare Entitlement Date
Enter the date on which the employee, or qualified beneficiary, became entitled to Medicare Benefits.
Date of Retirement
Enter the date on which the participant retired, if applicable.
Date - Bankruptcy
Enter the date the company went bankrupt, if applicable.
Date Mailed
Enter the date on which the ROEs are mailed.
COBRA Letter Type
Enter a UDC 08U/CN that specifies the type of COBRA notice.
Notice Reason Code
Enter a code that specifies the reason for a COBRA termination notice or unavailability notice.
The Notice Reason Code is enabled or disabled depending on the type of letter selected.