Current Version : Version 12.12.1
UPDATES
Version 12.12.1 / February 1, 2012
* Removing References to ARRA from the Software.
version 12.11.24 / November 15, 2011
* If you have the multi-company version, printed reports for all companies and
change one of the reports to a different time-frame, the title page may show the
wrong date. The problem has been fixed.
version 12.11.19 / September 30, 2011
* Fixed an import issue with COBRA participant files.
version 12.11.15 / August 1, 2011
* Updates were made to how the COBRA Administration Manager interacts with COBRA
Companion.
version 12.11.10 / May 31, 2011
* In some situations, a report would print the report template, when printing
reports for multiple groups. The problem has been corrected.
version 12.11.5 / March 31, 2011
* The Retiree file information report was only showing one dependent even if
they had multiple dependents. The problem has been corrected.
version 12.11.1 / February 23, 2011
* New Medicare Termination Notice
version 12.10.013 / December 7, 2010
version 12.10.010 / November 30, 2010
* Updated for COBRA Companion Manager
* 2% Admin fee on report
version 12.10.03 / October 27, 2010
* Updated a form control.
version 12.10.01 / Sept 15, 2010
* The Open Enrollment notice was updated to include information on the
Affordable Care Act.
* When a medical plan has a renewal after 9/23/2010 the loss of dependent status
age will automatically be changed to 26. This is done due to changes made
by the Affordable Care Act.
version 12.9.19 / Aug 31, 2010
* If you are a TPA that receives check made payable to the group and you would
like to bill the group for the 2% administration fee, you can add it to the
monthly bill by checking the box next to “Charge 2% Administration Fee for
Collected Premiums” under your TPA Information. The 2% is calculated from the
total amount received during the desired time-frame.
* Updates were made to how the COBRA Administration Manager interacts with COBRA
Companion.
* An error was found when you run the 941 report and a participant did not have
any plan history for the payment. The error has been corrected.
version 12.9.10 / July 30, 2010
* During Open Enrollment, retirees in the state of New York were not being
offered dental and vision in the Personalized Open Enrollment letter. The
problem has been corrected.
version 12.9.5 / June 30, 2010
* There was a correction in how the system determined if a COBRA participant
should be termed when they also had made a short payment. Note: It is important
to send out your short payment notices in a timely fashion.
version 12.9.4 / June 16, 2010
* When manually breaking down a payment and that payment was for the last month
of their COBRA, the plan information was not showing in the breakdown screen.
This has been corrected.
* When a participant is deemed disabled, on the 19 month of COBRA the premiums
tab was displaying the normal COBRA premium not the disabled premium. All other
parts of their billing were correct. The problem has been corrected.
* An issue with the multiple qualifying event letter showing the same sex as the
participant was corrected.
* Retiree dependents were not showing in the Things-To-Do box when they aged out
of the plan. The problem has been corrected.
version 12.7.2
* Some users have reported that the DOL Qualifying Event letter is
actually the ARRA COBRA Qualifying Event letter. This notification should
have been updated with a previous version. If your DOL Qualifying Event
letter refers to ARRA, please replace the letter with the one available online
by running an update.
version 12.7.1
* The software has been updated to produce the necessary notifications
and will help you collect the necessary information when a termination of
employment is experienced after a Reduction in Work Hours. The qualifying event
notification has been revised and two new notifications have been added to your
system.
version 12.6.1
* The software has been updated to comply with The Temporary Extension Act of
2010 (TEA).
version 12.5.12
* Updated the 941 report to accurately show partial payments during the last
month of subsidy.
* Changed the 60-day election window for qualifiers who did not originally
receive ARRA information.
version 12.5.1
* The software has been updated to comply with changes made by the 2010 DOD Act.
The Act extends the eligibility period for the ARRA premium reduction for an
additional two months (through February 28, 2010) and it also extends the
maximum period for receiving reduced rates for an additional six months.
Please see your December 2009 newsletter for more information.
version 12.3.2
* The ARRA COBRA Qualifying Event Notice was not producing a second letter to
the spouse. The problem has been corrected.
version 12.3.1
* The COBRA Qualifying Event notice you are currently sending will be saved. It
will continue to be produced for qualified beneficiaries with a COBRA start date
prior to January 1, 2010. A phrase will automatically be placed in your notice
(without altering any edits you have made to the notice) explaining this
additional qualification.
* When you enter a COBRA qualifier into the software, the system will
automatically select whether to send the ARRA COBRA Qualifying Event Letter or
the Qualifying Event Letter (which was used prior to ARRA) based upon the
qualifier’s COBRA start date.
* When entering a COBRA qualifier the “Qualifying Event” reason drop down list
will have a new option; “Involuntary Termination.” Please select this option for
employees who you feel would be eligible for the reduced rates if the ARRA
program was continued. The system will save this information and create new
notices if Congress extends the reduced rate program.
* Since the system needs to know the COBRA start date to determine ARRA
eligibility, the “Government Subsidies” tab will not be displayed until you have
entered the COBRA qualifying event date (and clicked the Enter or Tab Key). If
you selected “Involuntary Termination” as the Qualifying Event Reason and the
individual has a COBRA start date prior to January 1, 2010, the “Government
Subsidy” tab will be displayed and you may select if the qualifier is eligible
for reduced rates.
version 12.2.2
* The Personalized Open Enrollment Notice was update to show information on
ARRA.
version 12.2.1
* Update to accommodate New York State continuation. The DOL Qualifying Event Letter
and the General Notice have had a new variable added called
<NY STATE CONTIN> which is found under the section “How long will continuation coverage last?” It will inform the qualifier who normally would receive eighteen months of COBRA coverage that they will be eligible for an additional eighteen months under New York State continuation.
* Note: If you do not administer COBRA in the state of New York, there is
no need to update your documents at this time.
version 12.1.57
* When attempting to print all letters for a group or multiple groups, you may
get an error message telling you that the system cannot print all the letters.
This is due to an overflow when printing the End of ARRA notice. Please
update your software to the latest version to correct the problem.
version 12.1.50
* The Participant Payment Breakdown Report has been revised.
* A new notice has been added to let a COBRA participant know that the
government subsidy will be ending and the new COBRA rate. The notice will
show in your Things-To-Do box 31-days prior to the end of their subsidy.
* You can now change the start date of the subsidy to a date past 12/31/2009. This may be needed when a company is paying the participant's premium and you need to change the subsidy start date.
version 12.1.43
* The system will now recommend a date that a qualifier will become Medicare
eligible.
* If an employee is Medicare Eligible, the system will now allow you to state
that the qualifier was 'Involuntarily Terminated'.
version 12.1.36
* New Monthly Tax Reduction Report. The report can be found under Reports -->
ARRA Reports
* New Premium Payment Report. The report can be found under Reports --> Premium
Reimbursement Reports
* Personalized Open Enrollment notice was updated to show retiree rate without
2% administration fee.
version 12.1.32
* When a participant has paid for future months and is then terminated, you will
be prompted to issue a credit and also to re-run the 941 report.
* When running reports for all groups, you can now edit the report time-frame of
each individual ARRA report to be different than the global reporting
time-frame.
version 12.1.31
* The personalized open enrollment letter has been updated to show subsidized
rates for AEIs.
* The Spanish DOL Qualifying Event letter has been updated to provide ARRA
information.
version 11.2.66
* The personalized open enrollment letter has been updated to show current plan
information when one plan becomes inactive.
version 11.2.61
* In some cases an address label did not match what showed on the letter.
The problem has been fixed.
version 11.2.58
* Changes to the import procedure.
version 11.2.56
* During an open enrollment plan change... the 'Other Charges' description was
not getting added to the 'Plan History' of the COBRA Participant. The
problem has been corrected.
version 11.2.51
* When importing from a database file, you may get the error code "Invalid Use
of Null". The problem has been fixed.
version 11.2.50
* Fix a problem with printing multiple letters.
version 11.2.47
* An update to the 'Prepare Letter (With Person's Data)' function
has been updated (see version 11.2.45 update) to include a third option (which
replaces the Cancel option). Option three (3) is now, 'Produce new letter
using previous notification date and maintain current election period'.
This option allows you to reprint a letter without recalculating the election
time-frame. One scenario may be to reprint a notice with an updated
address, but you do not wish to change the COBRA election date.
version 11.2.45
* When using the 'Prepare Letter (With Person's Data)' function, a Message Box
will now pop up if the letter had previously been prepared for the person.
The Message Box will give you three option. 1) Create a new letter with a new
date (and time frames); 2) Open the File Cabinet and print the previously
printed letter, or 3. Cancel, which closes the Message Box.
version 11.2.39
* Labels for the General Notice were not printing the same as addressed on the
letters. The issue has been corrected.
* The Insurance Reimbursement Report was changed.
* New Report - Employees Starting on Benefits Report
version 11.2.34
* When renewing a 2 year 60 tier structure from the insurance plan information
screen, the first day of the new contract year was defaulting to the wrong plan
year. The issue has been corrected.
* Other Charges now shows correctly on the Insurance Reimbursement Report.
* Things-to-do report has been cleaned up.
* Admin Totals report has been revised.
version 11.2.26
* When a Participant is at the end of his/her COBRA
time frame and a payment is entered after the last day on COBRA, the payment
will now show in the last month under the Account Review screen. (This is only
for payments entered from here forward and will not show other late entries)
* The Multi-Company Notification Report will show the spouse's name as the
recipient of a notice.
* Under the COBRA Payments Received Report that we
produced for you, if you enter a payment without a date in the Account Review,
it will show on the report but in a lower designated section and the amounts
will not be included in the report totals.
* The Medicare Entitlement Report will show Participants who have an
Entitlement Date in their Participant File as well as Participants who will turn
age 65 during the entered time frame (Before it only would place Participants
that had an Entitlement Date in their file).
* The Administration Totals
Report has been updated to include all three General Notices (DOL, Initial and
Spanish DOL) as well as the three QE letters in the calculations.
* The
General Notice Report (formally the Initial Notification Report) has been
reformatted to allow for longer Employee Names (will not push information to the
next line).
* When you are selecting from a drop-down list of
Employees, Qualifiers or Participants, if their are duplicate names it will show
the person's social security number so you may select the correct individual.
version 11.2.21
* When importing previously imported active employees the insurance plan
information was being deleted. The issue has been resolved.
version 10.6.14
* The export was updated to include whether or not a company offers a Cafeteria
Plan and if they are mandated by their state to offer Life Insurance.
version 10.6.10
* If a dependent experiences a multiple qualifying event and the qualifying
event date is in the future, the multiple qualifying event may not be added to
the things-to-do-box. This issue has been corrected.
version 10.6.7
* Inactive Groups where not showing when switching from group to group.
The problem was corrected.
version 10.6.6
* Corrected a importing problem with the '@' symbol being used in a date field.
version 10.6.4
* Corrected a problem with re-indexing the comm.mdb.
version 10.6.2
* Menu item was changed from "Recent Developments in COBRA" to "COBRAinReview
Newsletter".
version 10.6.1
* Corrected a problem with importing the insurance coverage of a New Hire from a
text file.
version 10.6.0
* Proof of Mailing Report has been added. You should produce the Proof of
Mailing report each day that you send COBRA notifications.
* The COBRA Procedures document has been updated to include guidelines on
sending the Proof of Mailing Report.
* Please see September 2006's "COBRAinReview" for more information.
version 10.5.1
* The variable for
California legislation
AB 356 has been added
to the "Cal-COBRA Notice".
version 10.5.0
* When printing multiple coupons while pausing prior to printing the invoice,
the system would only show the first coupon and quit. This issue has been
corrected.
* Searching for an entered person has been enhanced. You can now search
for part of the last name.
* A new variable has been added to the "Qualifying Event Notice" and the "Conversion Notice" which places information about
California legislation AB 356
into the notifications.
version 10.4.16
* When Selecting an organization to administer, you now have an option to show
only active groups (Multi-Company Version Only).
* Inactive groups no longer show in the shortcut bar on the left side of the
screen. To navigate to a inactive group, choose the 'F7' function key.
version 10.4.13
* The "File Cabinet" can now accept letters with the same name in multiple
directories.
version 10.4.07
* A error was found with the software update reminder. This problem has
been corrected.
* A error was found when entering a newly hired employee and not entering
insurance information for the employee. This issue has been corrected.
version 10.4.01
* Simplified the qualifying event procedure for a divorce and loss of dependent
status.
version 10.3.1
* "Group Enrollment in a Plan" - You can do a mass enrollment to a new or
existing plan. Choose the "events" menu option and select "Group
Enrollment in a Plan".
* Under the "Multi Company reports" menu option, inactive groups will no longer
show in the list box (Multi Company version only).
* Cal-COBRA information now shows on the COBRA participant file information
(found under Reports).
* Premiums received after the date of termination did not show in the members
account review. This has been fixed.
* TPA Monthly Administration Fee can now be calculated based on multiple
months.
* You can terminate a Single Participant for "Death" without send a termination
notice.
version 10.2.2
* COBRA Administration Manager was updated to allow non-qualifying events to be
imported from COBRA Companion.
* Insurance information was added to the "Voluntary Removal from Group Plan
Notice".
version 10.1.16
*An error was occurring when the "Salutation" field was being changed.
This issue has been corrected.
version 10.1.15
* If you click on "Qualifier Accepts COBRA" on the Navigator window, an error
would occur. This issue has been corrected.
version 10.1.11
* You can now export the miscellaneous information from the participant and
qualifier file.
version 10.1.10
* Some users where getting an error '13' when a qualifier was over 65 and had a
spouse. This issue has been corrected.
version 10.1.7
* The COBRA Administration Manager can now unzip a database file before
importing it.
version 10.1.0
* When printing multiple invoices and having the system pause prior to printing
the invoice, the system would only show the first invoice and not continue.
This issue has been corrected.
version 10.0.22
* If you click on the "Account Balance" button in a COBRA Participant file while
the things-to-do list box is closed, you may encounter a "non-modal form when
modal form is displayed error". This issue has been corrected.
* Groups with numbers in the beginning of their name are not showing in the NAV
short-cut bar. This issue has been corrected.
* Retiree's do not show in the drop down box for "Open Enrollment / Plan
Change". This issue has been corrected.
version 10.0.20
* If the working directory was longer than 60 characters when attempting to
create invoices or coupons, the document would not show on screen and the
program would hang. The issue has been corrected.
version 10.0.17
* In certain situations, the name(s) of individuals (5) on the certificate of
coverage was not getting filled in properly on the termination notices.
The issue has been corrected.
version 10.0.14
* Import not correctly importing a New Hire's spouse. The problem has been
corrected.
version 10.0.13
* Some drop-down boxes where not showing names of participants that had already
been sent notifications. This issue has been resolved.
version 10.0.12
* You can now change the salutation on a notification/letter. example : Change
"and family" to "and covered dependents". Review the Company Information
form to make changes.
version 10.0.11
* Corrected an issue with the notes in a COBRA participants file.
version 10.0.10
* Updated New Jersey state continuation laws.
version 10.0.9
* Fixed the problem with replacing the 'DOL General Notification' with the
standard letter.
* Removed old verbiage from California state continuation.
version 10.0.8
* Date of Birth is now an optional field in an 'Active Employees' File.
version 10.0.7
* Corrected an issue with last day of Insurance plan.
* Corrected issue with saving a Short Payment letter as a pdf.
version 10.0.1
* Newly
created Navigator
* Things-to-do
list places termination information at the top of the list and in red
type face (for emphasis)
* Things-to-do
Box offers an Auto Terminate button – Users may click one button to
terminate all recommended Participants (Multi-Company users may
terminate Participants in all groups).
* Things-to-do
Box offers “Print Letters as PDF” button – Third Party Administrators
will be able to create COBRA letters (and reports) as a PDF® file and
email as an attachment.
*
Hot Keys – F2 through F12 keys have been implemented as a means to
perform a task with the press of one button.
*
Standardized Certificate of Coverage
*
Increased speed (upon start and when numerous items are in your
Things-to-do list)
*
Prepare Multiple Letters procedure – With the new requirements regarding
the General Notice, you may create the same letter for 2 or more
employees, qualifiers or participants with one click.
*
Save Letters or Reports as a PDF
* Notes
tab added to Active Employee’s form
* Batch
Premium Entry – Multi-Company users will not have to switch groups to
enter COBRA premiums.
* Archive
Files Report – shows files that have been transferred to Archive folder
* Direct
Web Links to DOL and IRS for up-to-date information.
* New
Version 10.x manual (downloaded under the HELP Menu)
UPDATES
version 9.1.18 05/27/2005
* Corrected an issue with importing data from cobramdb.mdb file.
UPDATES
version 9.1.12 04/06/2005
* Corrected issue with importing data from COBRA Companion.
UPDATES
version 9.1.3 1/28/2005
* When QE date is before benefits start date the
system will prompt you there is an error, but then it wipes out the data and you
have to reenter it. This problem has been fixed.
UPDATES
version 9.1.0 12-30/2004
* Version updated for start of 2005.
UPDATES
version 9.0.12 11/04/2004
* Corrected issue with
Import/Export data.
-
Importing - student status was not getting imported on dependents.
-
Exporting - The Retiree tag was not included in the 'File_Type' field.
UPDATES
version 9.0.11 10/29/2004
* Corrected issue with deleting a created notifications from a
participants file.
UPDATES
version 9.0 10/1/2004
* Final Regulation Update. See the September 2004 newsletter for changes.
UPDATES
version 8.0.32 05/24/2004
* While viewing previous months under
"Reviewing Participant's Account" screen, some dates may not show up in the
"Date Rec." row. This problem has been fixed and is available in the
latest patch. Note: The dates are still saved in the system, however
they are not viewable on this screen.
UPDATES
version 8.0.31 04/10/2004
* Added Date of Birth to the importing and
exporting of a COBRA Participant.
********************************* 3/28/2004
Retiree Billing - When adding a new retiree for billing, the first month rates where being calculated incorrectly. This problem was corrected and is available for immediate download.
******************************** 2/18/2004
"Voluntary Removal from Group Plan" notification was not generating correctly. The problem has been fixed and is available in latest release.
The word "Consolidated" was spelled incorrectly in the "General Notice" notification. The spelling error has been corrected and the notification is available for download.
******************************** 1/29/2004
Fix: NEW DOL Notification does not prepare second
notification to spouse.
Fix: Wrong letter printed when entering a spouse to a New Hire's file.
Fix: Qualifiers who became Medicare eligible, showed in the things-to-do box but
would eventually disappear before an action was taken.
All problems have been fixed and can be downloaded in the latest release.
************************** 12/31/2003
Software has been upgrade to adhere to the 2004 Proposed DOL Regulation Changes.
Notification Changes:
Other Software Changes:
****************************** 8/27/2003
The qualifying event notification was not showing the total amount of creditable coverage on the HIPPA certificate for a qualifying event of "Divorce".
******************************** 7/29/2003
Information was added to the structure of the cobramdb.mdb file to help with importing information into the COBRA Administration Manager.
******************************** 7/21/2003
The report "Retiree's File Information" does not open. The problem has been fixed and can be downloaded in the latest release.
******************************** 7/7/2003
In some unusual situations the end-user was not able to update their rates because the rates where not showing up in the text box, and when they typed in the box, it seemed to not have any effect on the rates. This problem has been fixed and can be downloaded in the latest revision.
******************************6/12/2003
If you had a qualifier with three plans (Medical, Dental, & Vision) and they where all "Create your own - up to 60 tier" structure, the program would loose track of the vision (or other)plan. This problem has been corrected and is included in the latest revision.
***************************************** 5/26/2003
When you add a spouse to an active employee's file, the system will inform you of sending the notification. We hope this reminder will assist you in your administration of COBRA and increase your awareness of the importance of the initial COBRA notification.
************************** 4/30/2003
State Continuation Laws where added to the software.
****************************** 4/1/2003
Corrected zip code recognition problem.
******************* 2/28/2003
New TPA billing invoice.
Fixed the cobra participant breakdown report.
******************** 12/27/2002
Software was updated with information on the Trade Act of 2002.
Changes where made to reflect the new California law changes/
********************* 11/27/2002
In some rare situations the "Participant Payment Breakdown Report" would show wrong paid through date for future payments. This problem has been fixed.
*************** 10/01/2002
Open enrollment notifications for COBRA Participants.
************** 5/28/2002
The ability to eliminate Social Security Numbers from Documents.
**************** 2/27/2002
New report was added under the Multi-Company report option. This report will allow you to select multiple companies for reimbursements.
********* 10/1/2001
COBRA Qualifying Event Letter and Certificate of Coverage was updated.
********* 8/15/2001
Document and Internet Wizard - Added the ability to unzip files.
********* 07/24/2001
Qualifying Event reported was revised.
********* 05/02/01
In a few rare situations, some insurance plans had the same ID number causing
them to show up in both plan drop down boxes on the qualifying event election
screen. This problem has been fixed.
********* 04/07/01
New report to track Qualifiers was added.
******** 01/05/01
Problem with multiple qualifying event is fixed.
******** 01/10/01
Internet and Document Wizard online authentication was improved.
******** 01/27/01
Two new variables have been added for prorated plans.
<CURRENT PLAN PRORATE>
<PLAN & RATES PRORATE>
******** 01/27/01
Qualifying Event letter has been changed to show firsts months prorated amount.
******** 01/30/01
The ability to save all letters to an archive folder. You can find this
option under the invoicing options screen.
More info below.
******* 02/18/01
Save Actual Notifications - As you may have noticed, the software utilizes a template document and imports member information into the appropriate locations (call variables). One adherent problem with this procedure is that if/when a notification changes and you need to reproduce a notification sent to a member, the system utilizes the newest form of the template. Now you have the ability to save the actual letter sent to an Archive file and can be retrieved and reproduced. To activate this procedure, select the Billing Options found under the Billing Menu. Under the Reimbursement Tracking Tab click the Save Notifications to Archive check box. Once activated, the actual letter is saved in the Archive folder housed in the Acct folder of the group in which you are administering. To reproduce the letter open your Windows Explorer and find the folder housing the COBRA.exe. Next double click on the ArchiveWP.exe file. Go to the Archives directory and you will find the notifications based on the name of the qualifier/participant followed by the date of the letter and the name of the notification.
Archive Old Files - The system constantly is reviewing files to see if any procedure is need to be performed to maintain your compliance with the law. After years of entry, many files are housed that will never be used again but you do not wish to delete them from the database because at some time in the future you may need access to them. The system now will let you Archive the file, meaning it will remove terminated COBRA Participants and Qualifiers over six month's old from the active database and place them in a separate database. This procedure will speed up the operation of the program as it searches for items to place in the Things-to-do box. Archive files are reviewed when producing reports and can be returned to active administration at anytime.
Pro-rated Premiums - The program has always been able to pro-rate premiums but it never showed the Qualifier how much to pay in their first month under COBRA. The COBRA Qualifying Event Letter has been updated to include the pro-rated premium amounts in the letter and on the Summary and Election form. This should promote receiving the correct amount for the first month's premium.