Earlier this year, an employer was sued in a class action in Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida for violating the notice provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) with respect to its COBRA election notice. Specifically, the employees alleged that the COBRA election notices provided by the employer did not include the information required by COBRA regulations. After failing to convince the court that the case should be dismissed, the employer agreed to establish a settlement fund for the affected employees and to correct the alleged deficiencies in its COBRA election notice. Since then, two similar lawsuits have been filed in Florida courts by employees who claim that the election notices provided by their respective employers were deficient and non-compliant with COBRA.

COBRA provides that

With 2015 just around the corner, certain mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended (“ACA”) are about to become effective. Health plans also have several existing enrollment and annual notice requirements. Below is a checklist of upcoming ACA mandates that employers must implement in preparation for or in 2015 and a summary of existing enrollment and annual notice requirements.

For a refresher on the ACA mandates which became effective this year, please see our 2014 group health plan checklist here.

I. ACA Requirements That Apply to All Group Health Plans (Whether Grandfathered or Not)

On or beginning with the dates specified below, a group health plan must comply with the following requirements, regardless of its status as a “grandfathered health plan”:

Obtain a Health Plan Identifier Number (HPID).

In a recent decision, the Federal District Court for Idaho found that a grocery store employee who  took a stale cake and shared it with her coworkers was properly denied COBRA for her “gross misconduct.”  (The decision does not say, but we assume “gross” does not refer to the quality of the stale cake.)

The employee alleged that she had been terminated because she was a woman, but the court disagreed finding no substantial evidence that the alleged basis for her termination was a pretext for gender discrimination.

Instead, the court said that she was terminated for “theft and dishonesty” in violation of company policy.  With regard to the claim that her termination was not for gross misconduct, the Court said:

Stealing from and/or lying to one’s employer, regardless of the value of the item, constitutes a willful and intentional disregard for the interests of one’s employer and is

In a recent CMS Bulletin, the Department of Health & Human Services announced a one-time special enrollment period for individuals who are currently eligible for, or enrolled in, COBRA continuation coverage to enroll in qualified health plans in the Marketplace.  This special enrollment period applies to the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) and ends July 1, 2014.

A person eligible for, or enrolled in, COBRA coverage is generally permitted to enroll in the Marketplace only (i) when the person is initially eligible for COBRA or has exhausted his or her COBRA coverage rights, (ii) during annual open enrollment, or (iii) during some other special enrollment period.  This one-time special enrollment period allows eligible individuals in states that utilize the FFM to terminate their COBRA coverage and enroll in

This is cross-posted from our recent client alert.

With 2014 just around the corner, numerous mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended (“PPACA”) are about to become effective.  Below is a checklist of upcoming PPACA mandates that employers must implement in 2014, as well as a list of existing enrollment and annual notice requirements that group health plan sponsors should consider during open enrollment.

Additionally, with the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Windsor overturning part of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), group health plan sponsors should take into account the impact of this decision on their plans.  As such, a brief summary of relevant DOMA considerations are provided below.

For a refresher on the PPACA mandates which became effective this year, please see our 2013 group health plan checklist here.

I. Requirements That Apply to All Group Health