Beyond Health Care Reform -
Other Employment Law Updates and Reminders

COBRA Continuation Coverage Assistance under ARRA

Applicable to employers with 20 or more employees

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides a COBRA premium reduction for eligible individuals who are involuntarily terminated from employment through the end of May 2010.  

Individuals who qualified on or before May 31, 2010 may continue to pay reduced premiums for up to 15 months, as long as they are not eligible for another group health plan or Medicare.  If an individual’s COBRA continuation coverage lasts for more than 15 months, they will need to pay the full amount to continue their COBRA continuation coverage beyond the 15 month subsidized period.

FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)

Applicable to employers with 50 or more employees

Effective January 16, 2009, provisions in the final rule call for increased notice obligations for employers so that employees will better understand their FMLA rights, while revising the employee notice rules to minimize workplace disruptions due to unscheduled FMLA absences.  The final rule also contains technical changes that reflect decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts.

The final regulations also implement two important new military family leave entitlements for eligible specified family members: 

1. Up to 12 weeks of leave for certain qualifying exigencies arising out of a covered military member's active duty status, or notification of an impending call or order to active duty status, in support of a contingency operation, and
2. Up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember recovering from a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty. Eligible employees are entitled to a combined total of up to 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave during the single 12-month period.

Find answers to common FMLA questions on our website at http://www.trisure.com/employee-fmla-update.html.

The final rule includes two new DOL certification forms that may be used by employees and employers to facilitate the certification requirements for the use of military family leave.

A copy of the FMLA final regulations, as well as the related DOL Press Release and Fact Sheet, can be found at http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/finalrule.htm

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA)

Applicable to employers with 50 or more employees

Applicable to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010,  The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.