The Plan Administrator has the obligation to furnish a COBRA Election Notice to each qualified beneficiary who will lose plan coverage as a result of a qualifying event. The Election Notice contains information about a qualified beneficiary’s continuation coverage rights and obligations with respect to a qualifying event, and is typically accompanied by a COBRA Election Form.192

The Plan Administrator must furnish the Election Notice, which must contain the following 14 required items,193 within 14 days of the time it receives notice that a qualifying event has occurred.194 If you as the employer are also the plan administrator, a consolidated furnishing period of up to 44 days applies instead.195 The 14 items are:

  • the plan name and the name, address, and telephone number of the party responsible for administering continuation coverage;
  • identification of the qualifying event;
  • identification of the qualified beneficiaries the plan recognizes as entitled to elect, and the date the plan coverage will terminate (or has terminated) unless continuation coverage is elected;
  • a statement regarding each qualified beneficiary’s independent right to elect COBRA continuation coverage;
  • an explanation of the plan’s procedures for electing COBRA continuation coverage, including the time period during which, and the date by which, the election must be made;
  • an explanation of the consequences of failing to elect (or waiving) COBRA continuation coverage;
  • a description of the COBRA continuation coverage;
  • an explanation of the duration of COBRA continuation coverage;
  • a description of the circumstances under which COBRA coverage may be extended;
  • a description of the plan’s requirements concerning a qualified beneficiary’s obligation to provide notice to the plan of a second qualifying event and notice of a Social Security disability determination, and related procedures;
  • a description of the COBRA premium amount;
  • a description of the plan’s COBRA premium payment procedures;
  • an explanation of the importance of keeping the plan administrator informed of the current addresses of all participants or beneficiaries who are or may become qualified beneficiaries; and
  • a statement that the notice does not fully describe continuation coverage, and that more complete information regarding COBRA continuation coverage rights is available in the plan’s summary plan description (SPD) or from the Plan Administrator.

These fourteen items are the complete set of content the regulation requires: there is no fifteenth required item, and the regulation does not itself require a Health Insurance Marketplace disclosure. The Department of Labor publishes a separate Model COBRA Continuation Coverage Election Notice that you may use but are not required to use; an appropriately modified and supplemented model notice is deemed to satisfy the content requirements above.196 Because the DOL has revised that optional model over time (most recently on May 1, 2020) to add information about Marketplace coverage alternatives and how Medicare and COBRA coordinate, a notice built from the current model will include Marketplace and Medicare content beyond the fourteen required items.

Minnesota Continuation Coverage

Federal COBRA is not the only law in play in Minnesota. If your group health policy covers active employees, Minn. Stat. § 62A.17 gives a terminated or laid-off employee an independent right to continue that coverage, and it places a notice duty on you as the employer that is separate from the federal election notice.197

Under Minnesota law, upon a termination or layoff you must inform the employee within 14 days of how to elect continued coverage and where and when to pay for it.197 The employee may continue the coverage for up to 18 months (or until covered under another group health plan, whichever is shorter), and the premium you charge may not exceed 102 percent of the cost of the coverage to the plan.197

Minnesota continuation can also reach employers that fall outside federal COBRA, which generally applies only to employers with 20 or more employees: the Minnesota requirement runs to group health policies covering active employees without that headcount threshold, so a smaller Minnesota employer may owe continuation rights under state law even when federal COBRA does not apply.197 Where both laws apply, they run together, and you satisfy the federal election-notice requirements alongside the separate Minnesota employer-notice duty. Related Minnesota provisions govern continuation of benefits to survivors after the death of the insured198 and continuation and conversion privileges for former spouses and dependent children.199

COBRA Election Notice Sample

Employers and Plan Administrators are cautioned that this Notice will require tailoring to the particular group health plan and that they should consult with legal counsel for revisions prior to use.

CREDITS: This is an excerpt from An Employer’s Guide to Employment Issues in Minnesota, provided by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development & Linquist & Vennum P.L.L.P., Tenth Edition, 2009. Copies are available without charge from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Small Business Assistance Office.

This post is also part of a series of posts covering the Continuation of Group Health and Life Insurance Coverage Law (COBRA). This information is not legal advice. You should consult with an experienced employment attorney before dealing with COBRA-related employment issues.

192 29 C.F.R. § 2590.606-4(b)(1) (available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2590.606-4).
193 29 C.F.R. § 2590.606-4(b)(4) (available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2590.606-4). The fourteen items correspond to subparagraphs (i) through (xiv): (i) the plan name and the name, address, and telephone number of the party responsible for administering continuation coverage; (ii) identification of the qualifying event; (iii) identification, by status or name, of the qualified beneficiaries entitled to elect, and the coverage-termination date; (iv) each qualified beneficiary’s independent right to elect; (v) the plan’s election procedures, including the time period during which and the date by which the election must be made; (vi) the consequences of failing to elect or waiving; (vii) a description of the continuation coverage; (viii) the maximum coverage period, the termination date, and any events that end coverage earlier; (ix) the circumstances under which the maximum period may be extended; (x) the qualified beneficiary’s duty to provide notice of a second qualifying event or an SSA disability determination; (xi) the premium amount; (xii) the payment procedures; (xiii) the importance of keeping the administrator informed of current addresses; and (xiv) a statement that the notice does not fully describe continuation coverage, with a reference to the SPD and the administrator.
194 29 C.F.R. § 2590.606-4(b)(1); Preamble to Final DOL Regulations, 69 Fed. Reg. 30083, 30091 (May 26, 2004).
195 29 C.F.R. § 2590.606-4(b)(2) (available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2590.606-4).
196 29 C.F.R. § 2590.606-4(g) (available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2590.606-4); DOL Model COBRA Continuation Coverage Election Notice (rev. May 1, 2020).
197 Minn. Stat. § 62A.17 (available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/62A.17).
198 Minn. Stat. § 62A.146 (available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/62A.146).
199 Minn. Stat. § 62A.21 (available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/62A.21).