WageWorks ARRA Bulletin
Congress recently passed the Temporary ExtensionAct of 2010, which, in addition to extending unemployment benefits, extends and expands the COBRA premium assistance subsidy originally provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Included in the Temporary Extension Act are the requirements for new notices that must be sent to all affected individuals.
Specifically, the Temporary Extension Act:
Currently additional legislation is under consideration that could extend the subsidy through December 31, 2010 with a vote expected before the end of March.
WageWorks® is fully prepared to comply with the new notice requirements resulting from the Temporary Extension Act; however, we are hoping to have additional details regarding the pending extension by the end of this month. In the interest of minimizing costs, WageWorks will postpone the re-notification process until the end of March or early April. At that time, WageWorks will provide the notices to all impacted participants for a fee of $6.00 per notice.
Our goal is to comply with all regulatory changes to the ARRA Premium Subsidy and other regulatory and legislative changes on your behalf. We will continue to provide updates as they occur.
Please contact your COBRA account manager if you have any questions.
The link below provides a current DOL Fact Sheet: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html
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