N.C. law extends COBRA enrollment - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The law extends the enrollment periods to 120 days from60 days. The often called “mini-COBRA,” will ultimately allow employees to receiv the federalstimulus package’s 65 percent COBRA premiumk subsidy. Laid-off personnel must have worked at small businessed with fewer than20 employees. “Because of this legislationj and the federalpremiunm subsidy, more North Carolinians who have been laid off will be able to maintainh their insurance coverage,” says N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayn e Goodwin.
“We hear from a lot of consumer who unfortunately have chosen not to extencd their coverage through COBRAor mini-COBRAw because it is simplyg too expensive or they missed the electiom period.” COBRA gives workers and their familiese the option to continue group healtu benefits for limited periods of time underr certain circumstances. Under federal law, COBRA generallgy applies to companies with 20 ormore employees, and workerss may be charged up to 102 percenyt of the full health insurance premium.
Insuranc companies of small employers — thosew who have fewer than 20employees — are requires to offer continuation coverage under North Carolina’s Groulp Health Insurance Continuation laws. The federal stimulus packagw contains two provisions that expand the benefitds available to employees whose jobs havebeen eliminated. It extends the election period for eligible employees to determiner whether they wish to enroll in the federalCOBRA program. The new N.C. law provides the same extendefd election periodfor mini-COBRA in North Carolina.
The federall package also provides a subsidy that pays for 65 percenf of the premium for both COBRAand mini-COBRA recipients who were laid off between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009. Depending on the size of the formerr employer, either the employe r or the insurance provider fronts 65 percent of the premiunm amount and then recoups that expense through federa l payrolltax credits. Workers are responsible for the remaining 35 percent ofthe