Questions about your benefits? Contact your HR administrator.
COBRA failures trace to a consistent pattern: late notices, lost elections, and billing that doesn't stop when coverage lapses — creating DOL exposure employers find at audit. BAS administers COBRA through CCS, its dedicated COBRA division, so notice delivery, election tracking, and billing run without HR intervention.
WHAT BAS ADMINISTERS
COBRA Service Scope
Managing COBRA in-house creates administrative risk. BAS structures the workflows — notice generation, election tracking, billing, and deadline monitoring — so your team isn't manually managing a process with narrow compliance windows.
Notices, elections, billing, compliance, and carrier coordination run inside the same connected system as your enrollment and eligibility data. When a qualifying event triggers, every downstream workflow activates as a coordinated sequence, not a disconnected checklist.
Initial and election notices delivered within required DOL timelines.
Elections captured and communicated to carriers within the 60-day window.
Invoices issued, payments tracked, and grace-period enforcement documented.
Qualifying events and deadlines maintained with audit-ready records.
Through Cobra Control Services (CCS), BAS manages the full operational scope of COBRA administration — from notice generation through termination processing — with documented execution and audit-ready records maintained through each workflow stage.
General Rights Notice (GRN) and Qualifying Event Notice (QEN) generation, mailing, and proof-of-delivery tracking with address documentation.
Election receipt, tracking, and status updates, processed within required timeframes against qualifying event timelines without manual follow-up.
Premium billing, invoicing, payment tracking, collection, and reconciliation handled end-to-end and tied to active COBRA enrollment.
Enrollment processing following election, termination processing for non-payment or eligibility changes, and open enrollment package distribution for continuants.
Compliance timeline tracking based on qualifying event triggers, with ongoing monitoring of required notice and election deadlines.
Audit-ready reporting and documentation across all notices, elections, billing activity, payments, and participant records.
GRN generated and mailed to covered employees with tracked proof of delivery and address documentation retained for audit.
QEN generated upon qualifying event and mailed within required timeframes with documented delivery records and address verification.
Mailing records maintained with address documentation for all notices, retained for compliance review and accessible for audit.
Election responses received, recorded, and tracked against election windows. Participant status updated as responses are processed.
Coverage continuation processed and enrollment updated following election, without requiring employer or HR involvement after event is recorded.
Premium billing generated per active COBRA enrollment, invoices distributed, and payments tracked against coverage status within billing cycles.
Premium collection handled and reconciled within billing cycles. Payments matched to active coverage status without manual tracking.
Termination rules applied based on payment status and eligibility changes, processed within the same system as billing and enrollment.
Open enrollment materials distributed to COBRA continuants within required timeframes with tracked delivery and status confirmation.
All compliance deadlines tracked from qualifying event trigger. Required notice and election windows monitored without manual calendaring or follow-up.
Qualifying event and eligibility data accepted through manual entry, structured file feeds, or direct API connection based on existing system infrastructure.
Existing COBRA populations onboarded with continuity of tracking and billing. Prior population data loaded without disruption to active continuants.
Full reporting across all COBRA activity — notices, elections, billing, payments, and terminations — maintained and accessible for compliance review.
Each step in the COBRA lifecycle is handled through a defined workflow: trigger, action, and documented outcome.
Notice generated and mailed with documented delivery. Required timelines met with recorded proof of mailing and address documentation retained.
Election processed and eligibility updated. Coverage continuation aligned without manual tracking. Participant status confirmed and recorded in system.
Premium billing and collection managed. Payments tracked and reconciled consistently against active COBRA enrollment within each billing cycle.
Deadlines, status changes, and terminations monitored. Compliance workflows maintained without manual oversight. Termination applied based on payment status.
COBRA administration involves strict timing, documentation, and communication requirements. Errors in notice delivery, election handling, or billing tracking create compliance exposure and administrative risk.
COBRA is administered operationally in accordance with requirements. Legal compliance responsibility remains with the employer.
Risks When Processes Break Down
Notices not sent within required deadlines create direct compliance exposure.
No proof-of-mailing means notice delivery cannot be confirmed under audit.
Elections not recorded leave coverage continuation status unclear and unresolved.
Premiums not tracked against active coverage create reconciliation and termination risk.
No accessible record of notices, elections, and payments leaves no defensible audit position.
COBRA administration coordinated across 3,900 benefit-eligible employees and 200 locations: notices, premium collection, compliance tracking, and real-time reporting administered by BAS with documentation maintained throughout.
Billing and payment handling moved out of HR workflows including coupons, invoicing, collection, and grace-period tracking.
COBRA and retiree communications were standardized across all continuants, replacing inconsistent manual outreach.
Notice Delivery Failure
No record of when notices were sent or delivered.
Election Tracking Failure
Coverage status unclear across systems.
Billing Synchronization Failure
Payments not reconciled to active coverage.
Notice generation, election tracking, premium billing, payment collection, enrollment processing, and compliance monitoring. All administration is handled end-to-end with documented processes and a full audit trail per qualifying event.
