This amendment is effective immediately, and requires employers
to notify certain current and future COBRA participants of the
extended 15-month eligibility.
On December 19, 2009, President Obama signed the extension of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) COBRA
Premium Subsidy into law under the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The extension provisions
are located in a House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R.
3326. This amendment is effective immediately, and requires
employers to notify certain current and future COBRA participants
of the extended 15-month eligibility.
What Has Changed?
Prior to this legislation, an Assistance Eligible Individual
(AEI) was required to have been involuntarily terminated from
employment between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009. Now,
an AEI is required to have been involuntarily terminated from
employment between September 1, 2008, and February 28, 2010.
