Travis Software Announces Updates to WebCOBRA On Demand and TravisCobraTM to Help Meet the Continuing Extension Act of 2010
Houston, April 26, 2010--
On April 15, 2010, Congress passed and the President later signed the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (the "Act") that extended to May 31, 2010 the eligibility for the 65% premium subsidy for COBRA premiums for individuals that incur an involuntary termination of employment on or before that date. Prior to this Act, the eligibility time period for the COBRA premium subsidy expired on March 31, 2010. This Act modifies the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which was amended by the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 earlier this year.
Travis Software Corp. is working now on updates to both WebCOBRA On Demand and TravisCobraTM to help you meet the requirements of this new law.
We plan to have the new release of TravisCobraTM delivered to TravisCobraTM Users on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. The new release of WebCOBRA On Demand will be implemented and available to WebCOBRA On Demand Users by Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. Additional testing was required for these updates to include the new ability to access and edit the ARRA Summary Letter and Request Form (as published by the DOL).
The system update will include:
- New capability to access and edit the ARRA Summary Letter and Request Form (as published by the DOL).
- A modification to include the requisite ARRA subsidy language and modified forms for each individual that incurs a Qualifying Event on or before May 31, 2010.
- The ability to automatically print letters to re-notify individuals who (i) incurred a Qualifying Event on or after April 1, 2010, and (ii) whose COBRA Election Notice or State Continuation Eligibility Notice was printed after April 1, 2010 so that their notice did not incorporate the COBRA premium subsidy offer. The re-notification letters will be able to be generated for those who meet both criteria above through the date that the WebCOBRA or TravisCobraTM User first uses the system that includes the upcoming release. For WebCOBRA Customers, the upcoming release will automatically include the update upon implementation of the new release. For TravisCobraTM customers, the upcoming release will need to be downloaded and installed.
Travis' staff is working carefully on these changes to make sure that we add these new capabilities while maintaining all other capabilities currently in the system. We will notify you when both the WebCOBRA release is implemented, and when the TravisCobraTM release is available for downloading.
Thank you again for being a Travis customer. We will continue to respond when changes to the COBRA law are enacted.
For additional information regarding the Temporary Extension Act, please see www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRA.
About Travis Software Corp.
Travis Software Corp., based in Houston, Texas, was founded in June 1986, shortly after the enactment of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, COBRA, which mandated group health continuation for the first time and created the market opportunity for the company's COBRA administration software system, TravisCobraTM, and its Web-based system for COBRA, WebCOBRA On Demand.
For more information about Travis Software, please contact Travis Marketing at (281) 496-3737, email us at marketing@travisoft.com, or visit us at www.travisoft.com.