DOL and Treasury Provide Certain Deadline Relief to Retirement and Health Plans and Participants

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will publish an Extension of Certain Timeframes for Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, Beneficiaries, Qualified Beneficiaries, and Claimants Affected by Hurricane Helene, Tropical Storm Helene, or Hurricane Milton in the Federal Register on November 8, 2024. This extension applies to special enrollment, COBRA, claims procedure, and external review process timeframes and requires group health plans, disability and other employee welfare benefit plans, and employee pension benefit plans subject to ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code to disregard the designated relief period with respect to participants, beneficiaries, and claimants.

Specifically, this includes:

• HIPAA special enrollment periods
• 60-day election period for COBRA continuation coverage
• Date for making COBRA continuation coverage premium payments
• Date for individuals to notify a health plan of a qualifying event or determination of disability
• Date that individuals can make a claim for benefits under the plan's claims procedures
• Date for individuals to perfect an incomplete claim
• Dates for appealing denied benefits and for external review of claims denials
• Date that a group health plan sponsor or administrator must provide a COBRA election notice

The relief period generally corresponds with the IRS’ previously announced tax relief for taxpayers affected by Helene and Milton in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.