COBRA notices fail on the handoff between payroll and HR, not on the letter itself.
The election notice is a form. What goes wrong is the event behind it: a reduction in hours payroll saw weeks before HR did, a divorce nobody reported, a termination entered late. We set up notices and election tracking on our platform, and we build the event feed that tells it when to start the clock.
Every deadline is counted from an event someone has to notice.
The federal timeline is fixed. The employer’s job is to make sure each clock starts on the right day, with the right people.
The General Notice
Each newly covered employee and spouse must get a general notice of COBRA rights within 90 days after coverage begins. We send it at enrollment rather than near the deadline, because a missing general notice weakens every notice that follows.
Employer to Plan
For termination, reduction in hours, death or Medicare entitlement, the employer has 30 days to notify the plan. The clock runs from the event, so a termination entered late in the system has already spent part of it. That 30-day notice starts the whole COBRA chain.
The Election Notice
The plan then has 14 days to send the election notice, or 44 days from the event where the employer is also the plan administrator. We track both paths, so the notice goes out on the calendar that applies to you.
Events the Family Reports
Divorce, legal separation and a child losing dependent status must be reported by the employee or family, in a window the plan sets that cannot be shorter than 60 days. Your plan has to describe that procedure, or the missed report becomes your problem.
The events that get missed are the quiet ones.
Terminations make noise. The qualifying events that slip through are the ones that do not look like a separation at all.
Reduction in Hours
An employee moved from full time to part time can lose eligibility without leaving. Payroll sees the change first, which is why we connect eligibility changes, not just terminations, to the notice process. A reduction in hours is a COBRA qualifying event when it ends coverage, even though the employee keeps working.
Leave That Ends
An employee on leave who does not return may trigger COBRA on a date that is easy to miss. We tie leave tracking to the notice calendar so the event date is recorded at the time, not reconstructed later. Record it promptly.
The Family Behind the Employee
A spouse and children are separate qualified beneficiaries with their own election rights. A notice written only to the employee can leave them without proper notice, so we address every beneficiary we know about. Each qualified beneficiary has an independent right to elect COBRA continuation coverage.
The election window is where coverage disputes are born.
A qualified beneficiary has 60 days to elect, measured from the later of the loss of coverage or the date the election notice is provided. How coverage is handled during that window has to be consistent.
Coverage While Pending
Someone who elects late in the window is covered back to the loss of coverage. We coordinate with the carrier or claims payer on how claims are held meanwhile, so a provider is not told coverage ended and then told it did not.
Proof of Mailing
A notice that cannot be shown to have been sent is treated much like one that was never sent. Every notice leaves our platform with a record of what went, to whom and when. Proof of mailing is the backbone of COBRA notice compliance.
Waivers and Revocations
A beneficiary who waives coverage can revoke the waiver before the window closes. We record both, so the election on file is the last one made, not the first. Accurate COBRA election records settle disputes about who elected coverage and when.
What employers ask about COBRA notices.
Does federal COBRA apply to us?
It applies to employers that had at least 20 employees on more than half of their typical business days in the prior calendar year. Smaller employers often face state continuation rules instead. Michigan has no state continuation law for smaller employers.
Who is responsible if a notice is late?
The employer and plan administrator keep the obligation even when notices go out through a vendor’s platform. That is why we focus on the event feed you control, not only on the mailing. Accurate qualifying event data is the employer’s side of COBRA compliance.
What if a notice was already missed?
A missed notice can expose the plan to penalties and to claims for coverage it would otherwise not owe. Counsel decides the remedy, and we help build the record of what happened and when. Acting quickly usually narrows the exposure from a missed COBRA notice.
What does the general notice have to say?
It names the plan and a contact, describes the continuation coverage and explains how to tell the plan about a qualifying event or a disability. Many plans put it in the summary plan description.
When does the general notice go out?
Within the first 90 days of coverage, to each covered employee and spouse.
What has to be in the election notice?
The rights to continuation coverage, how to elect, the administrator’s name and contact information, the premium and due dates, and what happens if payment is late. It should hold everything a person needs to decide.
Does each family member get a notice?
Generally one notice covers an employee and spouse who share an address, along with their dependents. A person living at a different address needs a separate notice. Each qualified beneficiary has an independent right to elect.
Can we send COBRA notices electronically?
Only under specific conditions, such as employees who use a computer as part of their job, or people who consented in the required way. Otherwise the notice goes by mail. We confirm which applies to each person.
How do we prove a notice went out?
By keeping proof of mailing or delivery for each one. The standard is delivery reasonably calculated to reach the person, so a record of what went out, to what address and when is the defense if it is ever questioned. See every COBRA deadline.
The rules in one place.
DOL Rules For Employer Health Plans
Form 5500, COBRA, plan documents and notices, in one place.
COBRA And Medicare
How the timing rules interact.
Where the Rules Come From.
The laws and rules named on this page link to the statute or regulation they come from. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and rules change, so check the current text.
COBRA Continuation Coverage (29 U.S.C. 1161)
Requires many group health plans to offer temporary continuation coverage after a qualifying event.
Plan Reporting (29 CFR Part 2520)
The Department of Labor rules for annual plan reports, including Form 5500.
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