30 Second Insurance Tips©

Tip 158- The Price Of Being Nice

A good employee retires or is let go. The boss says “we’ll pay your health insurance for a couple of months. We’ll call it severance”.

The employee’s last day is 3/14, and on 6/20, the boss terminates the employee as of the end of the month, and triggers a COBRA/ continuation notice for 7/1. But wait.

That employee should have been terminated as of 4/1. April through June, the company has been in violation of their group contract; i.e., covering someone who isn’t eligible. Then, they’re past the notification deadlines for COBRA/ continuation, and non-compliant on that front as well.

This is a very scary place for an employer to find themselves.

The company can cover a former employee’s premium, but it has to be done properly. A termination needs to take place, then the employee needs to elect COBRA/ continuation, and only then can the company cover the premium.