Using COBRA Workflow

This section provides an overview of COBRA workflow.

When you activate automated COBRA administration, you initiate a workflow process that prompts the administrator to send the COBRA letter. The workflow process starts when you enter a qualifying event or subsequent qualifying event and the system updates the Employee Master Information table (F060116) and Employee Master Additional Information File table (F060120). These tables have table triggers that initiate the workflow process.

The workflow process first searches the COBRA Qualified Beneficiary File table (F08910) and the COBRA Subsequent Qualified Event Info. table (F089101) for a date in the Date Printed field. If the COBRA letter has not been printed, the system sends a workflow message to the COBRA administrator's work center in the Priority Mail queue.

After the COBRA notification message has been sent to the administrator, the workflow process is idle for one day. When the process resumes, the system again searches the tables for a date in the Date Printed field. If the COBRA letter has not yet been printed, the system generates another workflow message and sends it to the administrator's supervisor, and the workflow process is idle for another day. The system repeats this process daily and continues to send notifications to the next highest supervisor until either the COBRA letter is printed or there are no more supervisors.