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Source: USDOL,5/5/20
The COVID-19 outbreak has created some new challenges for plan
sponsors and participants. On April 29, 2020 the Departments of Labor,
HHS, and Treasury jointly issued immediate relief by temporarily extending the
following statutory time frames:
- Plan administrators'
deadline to provide COBRA election notices.
- Plan participants'
deadline to notify a health plan of a HIPAA special enrollment event, a
disability, or a Qualifying Event.
- Plan participants'
deadline to submit a claim for benefits (e.g. FSA and HRA grace period and
run-out period extensions) and file an appeal for a denied benefit claim.
- Qualified beneficiaries'
deadline to elect COBRA continuation benefits.
- Qualified beneficiaries'
deadline to make timely payments for COBRA continuation benefits.
The rules extend the above timeframes by disregarding the statutory deadlines during the “Outbreak Period.” The Outbreak Period began on March 1st and will end 60 days after the National Emergency end date (or a later date announced in subsequent guidance). The National Emergency end date has not yet been announced. Also, the federal agencies may issue additional guidance if the National Emergency end date is different for parts of the country.
For more details on this relief, click here to read more.
See below for resources from the DOL:
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