In HR Dive’s Mailbag series, we answer HR professionals’ questions about all things work. Have a question? Send it to [email protected].
Q: When an employee leaves, COBRA requires that employers offer health plan continuation. But what about benefits like long-term disability?
A: Long-term disability coverage, or LTD, generally is not subject to continuation under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985, commonly known as COBRA, according to Carlton Pilger, an attorney in the employee benefits practice group at Fisher Phillips. “Rather, COBRA provides for covered employees and dependents who experience a qualifying event to be able to continue employer-sponsored group health plan coverage following certain qualifying events,” he said.
For COBRA purposes, the term “group health plan” means an employee welfare benefit plan providing medical care to participants or beneficiaries directly or through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise; and “medical care” is defined as care for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease and any other undertaking affecting any structure or function of the body, Pilger explained.
An LTD plan does not typically provide medical care; instead, they provide income replacement for individuals who must take an extended leave of absence from work due to a qualifying condition that renders them disabled according to an LTD plan’s eligibility terms, he said; “Because LTD plans do not provide medical care, they are not subject to COBRA and would not be required to be continued under COBRA.”
