FSA, HRA, COBRA, and HIPAA Deadlines Extended for Individuals Impacted by Disasters

Certain COBRA and HIPAA Special Enrollment deadlines have been extended for individuals affected by Hurricane Helene, Tropical Storm Helene, and Hurricane Milton.
 

Deadline Extensions

Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01 mandates the extension of the following deadlines:
 

• COBRA 60-day election period

• COBRA premium payments

• HIPAA special enrollment 60-day election period

• FSA/HRA claims submission deadline

• FSA/HRA claims appeal deadline

• Providing COBRA Qualifying Event notice to participants

Under the extension, the regular deadlines are paused until the end of the “Relief Period” designated as May 1, 2025.
 

Relief Period Eligibility

The relief applies to individuals in designated disaster areas in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Individuals who resided, lived, or worked in a designated disaster area at the time of the disaster, or whose benefit coverage was under a plan directly affected by the disasters, are eligible for these extensions.

The relief period ends on May 1, 2025, for all affected individuals. The start date varies depending on the location of the individual and which disaster affected them. The start of the Relief Period aligns with the beginning of the “incident period” established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
 

How will impacted individuals find out?

To ensure that affected individuals are informed about the deadline extensions, we all need to collaborate.  Since Vita does not maintain accurate information about those who reside, live, or work in the impacted areas at the time of the various disasters, employer assistance will be crucial in spreading the word to eligible individuals. 

• Employers will need to conduct outreach to any impacted employees.

• Vita will provide a short notice to employers to distribute to employees they are aware of who reside, live, or work in one of the impacted areas.

Vita’s Concierge team will guide employees and COBRA-qualified beneficiaries who contact us with inquiries.
 

What is the process for activating deadline extensions? 

Vita cannot automatically apply deadline extensions to specific participants in The Vita Flex or COBRA platforms, as there is no way to know which individuals resided, lived, or worked in the impacted areas at the time of the disasters.

All deadline extensions will be handled via participant request. Affected individuals may contact the Vita Concierge team to request an extension. 
 

FSA/HRA Deadline Extension

The claims submission deadline for eligible individuals will be extended to the end of the Relief Period + 90 days.  For calendar year plans, this means the normal March 31^st deadline for the 2024 Plan Year will be extended to July 30, 2025.

The relief did not provide any extensions for the dates when claims must be incurred under an FSA or HRA plan. 
 

COBRA Beneficiary Assistance

The Vita Concierge team will assist individuals who have their election window closed or whose coverage was terminated for late payment according to the “regular” rules. Election period/payment extensions and coverage reinstatements will be applied on an individual basis when beneficiaries identify themselves as eligible.
 

Impact on Employers

The FSA/HRA deadline extensions have two direct impacts on employers.
 

Plan Year Close

The plan year “close” must be extended if any participants qualify for the extension. This means the plan must remain open to allow for any potential claims submitted under the extended deadline. Typically plan close-out occurs in mid-April for calendar year plans, but for the 2024 plan year, this will be extended to mid-August in 2025.

Rollover Timing

Rollover processing is contingent on closing out the prior plan year.  Calculations of final rollover balances cannot be completed until after the claims runout period expires. Therefore, rollovers are held until after the plan closes, and balances are then transferred to participant accounts in late April. Despite the requirement to accommodate claims submitted pursuant to the disaster extension, Vita plans to finalize rollover balances according to the normal schedule. We recognize this may create plan-level reporting difficulties and manual processing requirements for participants eligible for the extensions. However, we believe maintaining the standard rollover process, while inconveniencing a few, will benefit the majority of participants who depend on their rollover balances being available.  Vita will work to minimize disruption for individuals eligible for the extensions. 
 

Fiduciary Compliance Guidance for Employers

The EBSA notice provides clear intent for plan sponsors relative to their fiduciary duty:

The guiding principle for plans and plan fiduciaries must be to act reasonably, prudently, and in the interest of the covered workers and their families who rely on their health, retirement, and other employee benefit plans for their physical and economic well-being. Plan fiduciaries should make reasonable accommodations to prevent the loss of benefits or undue delay in benefits payments in such cases and should attempt to minimize the possibility of individuals losing benefits because of a failure to comply with pre-established timeframes.

Vita will work with plan sponsors to uphold the spirit of this message while supporting plan participants impacted by these disasters.
 

Examples of Deadline Extensions

For reference in understanding how the deadline extensions will apply to individuals in various situations, the following examples may help.

Resources

FSA/HRA/COBRA Participant Notice

Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01

Agencies Providing Notice: The public notice of relief was provided in Disaster Relief Notice 2024-01 and a related rule. These actions were taken jointly by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Treasury and apply to certain ERISA employee benefit plans.