employees & SPD

[Guest groundfloor]

The new COBRA law requires updates to SPD's - is this applicable to employee groups of more than 50 or 100?

Ground floor

[Guest b2kates]

should apply to all plans that must comply with COBRA; i.e more than 20.

[Guest groundfloor]

If an employer group of +20 requires an SPD - where can the employer find an acceptable format to follow since the health care provider does not include one in their boiler plate "certificate of coverage" (at least here in NY)? Thanks

[Kirk Maldonado]

The DOL regulations provide a laundry list of the items that are required to be provided in the SPD.

[JDuns]

The COBRA rule does not change the small plan exemption from providing a full SPD. But the small plan SPD exception also does not change the requirement to provide other notices required by law (like the COBRA and HIPAA notices).

Therefore, the COBRA notices are required for any plan with 20+ employees. The COBRA notices may be incorporated into a SPD but a SPD is not required so long as the plan has fewer than 100 employees.

Hope this helps.

[401 Chaos]

JDuns,

Could you elaborate on your statement that an SPD is not required for plans with fewer than 100 participants. I am aware of exceptions to SAR requirements for small plans as well as some Form 5500 exceptions but not exceptions to the requirement that an SPD be furnished.

thanks

[JDuns]

Oops. Prior to 2000, various regs (like 2520.104-20(a)(2)) extended the exception to SPDs. But that was revised in regs issued in late 1999.

I should know better than to rely on my memory (since I haven't had any small clients since then).