I have an employee that was just terminated. What exactly do I need to do to offer him State Continuation of insurance? I know that I can ask for a full 3 months payment in advance. He cannot get COBRA as we only have 10-15 employees. His wife will be calling but I don’t think I should talk to her as she was not the employee and she was not on his insurance (only him and his kids). Can I legally talk to her without violatin privacy laws or HIPAA?
Answer:HIPAA only protects medical information obtained on an employee THROUGH your group health plan. Talking to the insured children’s mother about whether or not they have insurance coverage, continuation options, etc. has nothing to do with HIPAA. Nor are there any such things as "privacy laws." I’m afraid I know nothing about Tennesse reg’s regarding continuation of insurance. Your insurance broker should be able to advise you.
Answer:I went to your State’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner (http://state.tn.us/commerce/) but I’m afraid several searches didn’t reveal any information regarding any State required continuation of insurance information.
Answer:Actually, an employer of 10-15 employees is not prohibited from offering COBRA. They are not required to do so, but they can do so voluntarily. TN law requires all employers who offer group health insurance to offer 3 months of coverage (in addition to the remainder of the month in which the employee is terminated) to all employees insured for the previous three months. Dependents must be offered the same. So the wife would not be entitled to coverage, but the employee and his kids would be.
Whether you choose to talk to her is up to you. I personally would not since she is not covered on the plan. But you won’t be violating any laws if you do so.
Answer:Actually, an employer of 10-15 employees is not prohibited from offering COBRA. They are not required to do so, but they can do so voluntarily. TN law requires all employers who offer group health insurance to offer 3 months of coverage (in addition to the remainder of the month in which the employee is terminated) to all employees insured for the previous three months. Dependents must be offered the same. So the wife would not be entitled to coverage, but the employee and his kids would be.
Whether you choose to talk to her is up to you. I personally would not since she is not covered on the plan. But you won’t be violating any laws if you do so.
Answer:Actually, an employer of 10-15 employees is not prohibited from offering COBRA. They are not required to do so, but they can do so voluntarily. TN law requires all employers who offer group health insurance to offer 3 months of coverage (in addition to the remainder of the month in which the employee is terminated) to all employees insured for the previous three months. Dependents must be offered the same. So the wife would not be entitled to coverage, but the employee and his kids would be.
Whether you choose to talk to her is up to you. I personally would not since she is not covered on the plan. But you won’t be violating any laws if you do so.
Where can I find about the state law of continuing insurance? I didn’t know you had to offer the 3 months AND the remaining of the month inwhich he was terminated. He was termed on the 6th so I would be offering almost 4 months.
Answer:What if I didn’t offer the continuation as soon as he was termed? How exactly should I offer this in the future?
Answer:I can’t point you at a link but it appear to be Tenn. Code Ann. 56-7-2312. I don’t have any information about how you offer it or when you have to offer it by, sorry.
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