Audio Conference: Federal Stimulus Law Yields New COBRA Requirements For Business

On April 9, business executives and human resources professionals from across the country joined Plunkett Cooney employment law attorney Claudia D. Orr for a free webinar examining the new COBRA federal business requirements resulting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Also known as the federal “stimulus law,” the ARRA provides former employees financial relief with their COBRA premiums. Employers are now required to pay for 65 percent of COBRA premiums and to send notices to affected former employees by April 18, 2009.  

In addition, employers must determine who is “disqualified” for purposes of receiving this benefit and provide specific reasons for the disqualification. While the webinar does not cover every detail of this complex legislation, it provides sufficient detail so you can meet the federally mandated deadline of April 18.

To listen to the entire one-hour conference call, click here. Please note that accessing the file may take several minutes. To download a copy of the audio file in .wav format, right click on the link above, and then left click "Save Target As." When prompted, select a location, such as your desktop, where you wish to save the file.

Questions regarding the new COBRA business requirements stemming from the ARRA can be directed to the presenter Claudia D. Orr or to Theresa Smith Lloyd, who serves as the firm's Labor & Employment Law Practice Group Leader.