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NotificationThe COBRA notification process includes the following steps:%u2022 The bswift Enrollment Portal, or the TPA portal, must be used by the BA to report a termination of coverage.%u2022 If the bswift Enrollment Portal is used, the termination date and reason for the termination or qualifying life event and life event date must be entered.%u2022 If the Enrollment Application and Change Form is utilized, the termination date and reason must be entered, and the BA must process the termination via the bswift Enrollment Portal or their TPA portal.%u2022 bswift will process the change. If the qualified participant was enrolled in a TRS-ActiveCare plan, the Qualifying Event Notice will be automatically mailed to the participant. If the qualified participant was enrolled with an HMO, the COBRA administrator for each HMO will be notified of the termination date and reason. HMO%u2019s COBRA administrators will mail the Qualifying Event Notice to qualifying participants.%u2022 The Qualifying Event Notice will include:%u2022 an explanation of group health continuation under COBRA%u2022 a COBRA election form with premium informationIf the applicable COBRA administrator receives the COBRA election and initial premium payment within the time periods specified in the Qualifying Event Notice, the participant%u2019s coverage will be reinstated and they will receive a coupon book. If the COBRA Election Form and all premiums due are not received within the time periods specified in the Qualifying Event Notice, the qualifying participant will be notified they are unable to continue and their check will be returned.%u2022 Timelines:%u2022 The employer has 30 days to notify their administrator of a qualifying event.%u2022 The administrator has 14 days to send the notice from the date they are notified.%u2022 The participant has 60 days from the later of the date the administrator mails the notice or the date they lost their coverage to enroll.%u2022 The participant has 45 days from the date they postmark their election to postmark their initial payment (all retroactive premiums due).%u2022 All payments after the initial payment are due on the first of each coverage month (payment for January is due Jan. 1). There is also a 30-day grace period, so a payment for January that was postmarked on Jan. 31 would be considered timely.%u2022 Two things to keep in mind:%u2022 COBRA timelines revolve around postmark (and to a lesser extent, email and fax) dates. A payment doesn%u2019t have to be received by Jan. 31 to be considered timely for January; it must be postmarked by Jan. 31.%u2022 The grace period is 30 days from the first of the month, not one month. For example; a June payment postmarked on July 1 would be considered timely. The length of the grace period does not change based on the length of the month.Employer ResponsibilitiesWhile bswift administers COBRA eligibility and membership processing for TRS-ActiveCare, the participating employers retain certain obligations under federal law. Recent changes to COBRA may impact your obligations.For example:Notice of Unavailability of Continuation Coverage is required of employers. This is different from the Notice of Continuation Coverage Rights under COBRA provided by TRS-ActiveCare.50 www.bcbstx.com/trsactivecareba