Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”)
[1] requires employers to extend offers of free COBRA coverage to certain individuals for the period from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. The ARPA then provides tax credits as means of offsetting the costs of the free COBRA coverage. The law also requires employers to extend offers of COBRA coverage to other individuals whose right to COBRA coverage previously ended.
This blogpost reviews who is eligible for free coverage, how the tax credits work, eligibility for extended coverage, and some potential issues pertaining to insurance coverages.
Background
The “COBRA Law”
[2] is a federal law that generally obligates employers with group health plans to offer covered employees and covered dependents (“COBRA qualified beneficiaries”) the right to continue coverage under the group health plan in certain circumstances where the coverage otherwise would cease.