Cal-COBRA: premium assistance.

Existing federal law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) , requires group health plans providing coverage to employers of 20 or more employees to provide former employees with continuation of benefits, as specified. Existing federal law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provides specified premium assistance under COBRA and state programs that provide comparable continuation coverage for certain assistance eligible individuals, as defined. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of that act a crime. Existing law also provides for regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law, the California Continuation Benefits Replacement Act (Cal-COBRA) , requires health care service plans and health insurers providing group coverage to employers of 2 to 19 employees to offer continuation of that coverage for a specified period of time to certain qualified beneficiaries, as specified. This bill would require health care service plans and health insurers to provide notice of the availability of premium assistance under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to qualified beneficiaries who may be eligible for that assistance, as specified, and would require the notice to include certain information and to be sent within specified periods of time. The bill would allow a qualified beneficiary eligible for the federal premium assistance to elect Cal-COBRA coverage within a certain period of time and would allow individuals enrolled in Cal-COBRA coverage as of February 17, 2009, to request application of the federal premium assistance, as specified. The bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care and the Insurance Commissioner to adopt emergency regulations in the event that any federal assistance is or becomes available to persons eligible for Cal-COBRA, as specified. The bill would enact other related provisions. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.