Apr 29, 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act includes a COBRA premium subsidy provision to allow assistance-eligible individuals who have lost employer-sponsored health coverage due to involuntary termination or reduction in hours to enroll in COBRA/Cal-COBRA coverage for April 1 through September 30 at no cost.
The provision allows either the employer group (for Federal COBRA) or Blue Shield (for Cal-COBRA), to recover eligible member premium costs through a quarterly payroll tax credit.
The provision also requires either the employer group, COBRA third-party administrator (TPA), or the health plan to send potentially eligible individuals a notice with details on subsidy criteria and enrollment details.
For Cal-COBRA individuals, Blue Shield will be sending this notice. They are in the process of updating the related letters and forms, and expect to begin mailings in the middle of May. They will share more information as these become available.
For Federal COBRA individuals, employer groups or the TPA is responsible for sending notifications.
