Current HBS Legislative Updates
San Jose, California Current HBS Legislative Updates
COBRA Temporary Extension to March 31, 2010: COBRA Subsidy Extended, Plus Technical Tweaks - Once again, Congress has extended the benefits of the ARRA COBRA subsidy to COBRA Subsidy Events occurring on or before March 31, 2010. On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, the Senate voted 78-19 to enact H.R. 4691 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4691) , the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (TEA), which contains an extension of the COBRA Subsidy Events through March 31, 2010 along with the extension of unemployment benefits through April 5, 2010. The purpose of this Memorandum is to describe the COBRA Subsidy extension and other significant COBRA subsidy changes found in TEA.- Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Notices Published: Actions Required - As required by the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), the Department of Labor has issued a Model Notice for group health places to use in notifying employees about their potential CHIPRA rights. The purpose of this Memorandum is to assist employers in achieving compliance with the CHIPRA Notice Requirements.
- DOL Publishes Model ARRA NDAA Notices for the COBRA Extension Subsidy - As promised, the Department of Labor (DOL) reduced our collective anxiety yesterday by publishing the COBRA Subsidy Extension notices to be used for compliance with the notice provisions of the COBRA Extension legislation included in the National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) enacted into law on December 19, 2009.
- FMLA: Expanding Military Leave Entitlement and Sample Amendment - On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The NDAA contains an expansion of Family Leave Rights. The FMLA provision actually contains no specific effective date. As a result, most practitioners advise employers to treat the expansion as being effective immediately.
- COBRA Extension Legislation on President's Desk - On Saturday, December 19, 2009, Congress extended the COBRA subsidy first enacted on February 13, 2009 from nine (9) months to fifteen (15) months for those who undergo an involuntary termination of employment between September 1, 2008 through the end of February 2010.