End of National Emergency and Outbreak Periods

The Department of Labor (DOL) indicated in Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 that certain required employer plans and church plans should disregard certain benefit plan deadlines for the period starting March 1, 2020 through 60 days after the end of the National Emergency period (this period of disregarding plan deadlines is called the “Outbreak period”). The National Emergency period was expected to end on May 11, 2023, and based on comments made informally by the President, we expect that period will end on July 10, 2023 (60 days after the initially planned end to the National Emergency period).

The Outbreak period applies to the following most common plan timeframes:

• 60-day initial election period for COBRA continuation coverage
• 45-day initial and 30-day subsequent periods to make COBRA premium payments
• 30- or 60-day period to request a HIPAA special enrollment
• Dates for participants to notify providers regarding a COBRA qualifying event and a disability determination to extend COBRA coverage
• Date by which a participant must file a benefit claim, appeal an adverse benefit determination, or request or perfect an external review under the plan’s claims procedure
• Deadline for a group health plan to send a COBRA election notice

Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) FAQs about Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Implementation Part 58 provides examples to clarify how the requirements under the emergency relief extensions will change after the National Emergency and Outbreak periods end. The FAQs state that individuals, in some circumstances, will still be permitted a minimum timeframe to complete elections, initial payments, and subsequent payments. Based on the information in the FAQs and using July 10, 2023, as the end of the Outbreak period, the following examples show how the end of the Outbreak period would apply in various scenarios:

COBRA Initial Election Example #1

• Qualifying Event and loss of coverage date: 04.01.2023
• COBRA Specific Rights Notice mail date: 05.01.2023
• “Normal” time period for making election: 60 days
• Outbreak period end (07.10.2023) + 60 days = 09.08.2023 last date to make initial COBRA election

COBRA Initial Election Example #2

• Qualifying Event and loss of coverage date: 05.12.2023
• COBRA Specific Rights Notice mail date: 05.15.2023
• “Normal” time period for making election: 60 days
• Outbreak period end (07.10.2023) + 60 days = 09.08.2023 last date to make initial COBRA election

COBRA Initial Election Example #3

• Qualifying Event and loss of coverage date: 07.12.2023
• COBRA Specific Rights Notice mail Date: 07.15.2023
• “Normal” time period to elect COBRA (60 days): 09.13.2023 last date to make initial COBRA election

Initial Payment Example

• Qualifying Event date: 10.01.2022
• COBRA Specific Rights Notice mail date: 10.01.2022
• Participant election: 10.15.2022
• “Normal” time period for making the initial COBRA payment: 45 days
• Outbreak period end (07.10.2023) + 45 days = 08.24.2023 last date to make initial COBRA payment
  • Required premiums to be paid in initial payment: October 2022 through July 2023
  • August 2023 premiums would be due by the normal August subsequent grace period as per COBRA regulations

This material is for informational purposes only and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes, regulations, regulatory notices, and similar publications from government agencies may be subject to interpretation or modification. You should consult your own counsel for advice on how to interpret or implement the FAQs.