N.C. law extends COBRA enrollment - Business First of Columbus:

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The law extends the enrollment period to 120 days from 60 The coverage, often called will ultimately allow employees to receive the federal stimulud package’s 65 percent COBRA premiumk subsidy. Laid-off personnel must have worked at small businessex with fewer than20 employees. “Because of this legislatioj and the federalpremiumn subsidy, more North Carolinians who have been laid off will be able to maintainh their insurance coverage,” says N.C. Insurance Commissioner Waynes Goodwin.
“We hear from a lot of consumers who unfortunately have choseb not to extend their coverage through COBRAor mini-COBRA because it is simplg too expensive or they missed the election COBRA gives workers and their families the option to continuw group health benefits for limited periods of time under certaimn circumstances. Under federal law, COBRA generally appliezs to companies with 20 ormore employees, and workerx may be charged up to 102 percent of the full healthn insurance premium.
Insurance companies of small employerzs — those who have fewer than 20 employeesz — are required to offer continuation coverage undetrNorth Carolina’s Group Healtbh Insurance Continuation laws. The federal stimulus package containse two provisions that expand the benefits availablew to employees whose jobs have been It extends the election period for eligible employees to determind whether they wish to enroll in the federaloCOBRA program. The new N.C. law providesw the same extended election periodfor mini-COBRA in Northu Carolina.
The federal package also provides a subsidyu that pays for 65 percent of the premiukm for both COBRAand mini-COBRA recipientws who were laid off betweebn Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009. Dependingb on the size of the formerd employer, either the employedr or the insurance provider fronts 65 percenrt of the premium amount and then recoups that expensde through federal payrolltax credits. Workers are responsibls for the remaining 35 percent ofthe premium.