Health Coverage Extensions Could Create Headaches for Employers

The Trump administration is giving laid-off workers more time to decide if they want to stick with their prior job-based health coverage and more time to pay for it—leeway that could wreak havoc on employers.

The Departments of Labor and Treasury recently delayed the deadline for employees to sign up for and pay for up to 18 months of continued health-care coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

But benefits attorneys say the relief for people losing their jobs in the midst of a pandemic has the potential to create a patchwork of deadlines across the country ...