COBRA Compliance Update: May 2009
2009 COBRA Subsidy Administration and Related Compliance, Technical and Strategic Issues for Health Plans, TPAs and Employers

A Webinar and Audio Conference providing up-to-date overview and detailed, technical information relating to the new COBRA subsidy requirements and related topics, with national expert Ashley Gillihan, Partner & Counsel with Alston+Bird, Atlanta, GA. Time allotted for answers to your specific questions.
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Eastern (10:00 - 11:15 p.m. Pacific)
Click here to find out what time your event starts in your time zone.

Individual Registration Fee: $225. Audio Conference CD-ROM: $40 for attendees; $285 for non-attendees after the event. Corporate Site licensing also available. Click here to register or call 209.577.4888. Click here for a downloadable order form you can fax or mail.

Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Act, which provides Government-funded COBRA premium assistance (COBRA Subsidy) equal to 65 percent of the COBRA premium to COBRA qualified beneficiaries receiving COBRA by virtue of the covered employee’s involuntary termination of employment occurring between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009 (“Assistance Eligible Individuals” or AEIs). The Subsidy is available for any health coverage (including dental, vision, EAP, etc.) other than health FSA coverage offered through a cafeteria plan.

A myriad of detailed technical and administrative issues result from the ACT that health plans, TPAs and Employers must address, as well as administrative and strategic implications that must be considered. Furthermore, with each passing week since adoption of the Act, new scenarios and issues surface that need to be addressed.

This webinar provides an up-to-date overview and detailed, technical information relating to the new COBRA subsidy requirements and related topics, with national expert Ashley Gillihan, Partner & Counsel with Alston+Bird, Atlanta, GA. Time is allotted for answers to your specific questions.

Ashley will address topics in detail including:

• Overview of Applicable Requirements and Administrative Implications
• Who Is an Assistance Eligible Individual?
• Extra-Plan Appeal Procedure to DOL
• How Much is the COBRA Subsidy?
• What Are the Reporting Requirements?
• What Is the Duration of the COBRA Subsidy?
• What Are the Special Enrollment Rules?
• What Are the Plan Administrator’s Additional Notice Requirements?
• What Is the Special Election Period?
• What Plan Administrators Need to Do Now
• Considerations involved in providing individual plan alternative information
• Discussion of any current or anticipated Guidance on related issues 

Get your specific questions answered by a national expert! Time will be allotted to ask your specific questions, with an easy-to-use online tool to submit your questions to Ashley. Click here to register or call 209.577.4888. Click here for a downloadable order form you can fax or mail. 
   

• Understand the general overview, key issues and considerations involved with the COBRA subsidy and related provisions of the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Act
• Identify and understand the specific actions required to comply with these provisions
• Consider the various compliance and administrative scenarios involved in a wide range of technical topics involving applicable provisions of the Act and related regulations
• Explore detailed technical and administrative considerations regarding these provisions
• Be well-versed with the applicable terminology, concepts and timeframes involved
• Review the environment for current and upcoming Guidance on these issues
• Explore key strategic and administrative considerations involved with implementation
• Address specific applicable questions with the faculty

Interested Attendees from such organizations would include Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Director of Operations, COBRA Administrators, Controllers, Enrollment Managers and Staff, Eligibility Manager and Staff, Human Resource Executives and Staff, Health Benefit Management Executives and Staff, Benefit Consultants, Insurance Agents, Marketing Executives and Staff, Information Technology Solutions Staff, Media and other interested professionals.
    

Ashley Gillihan 
Partner and Counsel, Alston+Bird, Atlanta, GA

Ashley Gillihan is counsel in the Alston & Bird Atlanta office and a member of the firm's Employee Benefits and ERISA Litigation Groups. Mr. Gillihan focuses his practice exclusively on health and welfare employee benefit compliance and litigation issues for employers, health plan administrators and other health and welfare benefit plan service providers. He also has extensive experience assisting financial institutions and insurance companies who serve as Health Savings Account trustees or custodians.

Mr. Gillihan is active in publishing and speaking on various health and welfare benefit plan related topics and serves as a faculty member and/or technical advisor for several health and welfare benefit plan focused organizations.

Ashley is a member of the Employer’s Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) Technical Advisory Council and the board of editors for the Benefits and Compensation Law Alert published by M. Lee Smith Publishers. He has been named to the Benefits Committee for the Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc. to serve for 2007-2008. He is also a faculty member for the Institute for Applied Management and Law (IAML), and is the primary author of the Flexible Benefits Answer Book published by Aspen Publishers. He recently authored: "COBRA Subsidy Provisions Included in the Stimulus Act — What Plan Sponsors and Administrators Need to Do NOW," in March 2009 issue of The Self-Insurer.
 

Corporate Site licensing also available. Click here to register or call 209.577.4888 We look forward to your participation in this event! Click here for a downloadable order form you can fax or mail.