5 things to consider when evaluating a COBRA administrator

Outsourcing your COBRA administration can reduce risk for your company and minimize paperwork for your HR team, but finding the right administrator may seem overwhelming. Here are the five considerations to keep in mind during your COBRA administrator evaluation process.

Saves your HR team’s time

COBRA administration can be incredibly time-consuming and complex, so it’s important to choose an administrator that understands and can handle the wide variety of needs quickly and efficiently. Your COBRA administrator should be able to provide support for tasks such as: 

• Financial reporting for tracking premium disbursements and settlements 
• Monitoring terminations and elections
• 834 file transformation and mapping 
• Managing employee questions and issues

Helps you stay in compliance

There are numerous COBRA regulations  surrounding eligibility, qualifying events, and important deadlines that employers need to be aware of in order to stay in compliance while offering and administering COBRA. Some of the most common errors employers make when administering COBRA on their own include: 

• Not knowing when a group health plan is subject to COBRA
• Failing to recognize when a COBRA-qualifying event occurs
• Not providing required notices to their employees on time

If you look for a COBRA administrator that has extensive experience and knowledge behind navigating COBRA compliance complexities, you won’t have to worry about misunderstanding COBRA eligibility rules or missing deadlines.

Provides in-depth, on-demand reporting

Another great perk of a high-quality COBRA administrator is their ability to provide comprehensive reports in a timely manner. Instead of waiting for access to COBRA participant data while handling time-consuming reporting yourself, keep an eye out for an administrator that offers on-demand, custom reporting solutions that fit the needs and goals of your company.

Simplifies the participant experience

Considering how complicated COBRA is for employers, it’s even more confusing for participants. That’s why it’s crucial to work with a COBRA administrator that can customize and simplify the COBRA participant experience by offering them perks such as:

• The ability to access all of their COBRA information and perform actions through one online platform
• A mobile app where they can access their COBRA account on-the-go
• Receive real-time, immediate updates after they make a payment
• The ability to make open enrollment elections online
• Receive automated and clear communications

Offers innovative and trusted technology

During your evaluation process, search for a COBRA administrator that can offer you a technology solution that has proven to be both innovative and trusted in the industry. With integrated services that help drive efficiency, like payment processing or mail fulfillment, and a team that you can trust to understand and meet your needs, you won’t have to worry about long processing times or compliance complications.

Are you interested in learning more about COBRA with WEX? Check out our COBRA page!

The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice, you should consult your own legal counsel, tax and investment advisers. 

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