What's worse, the rules are currently in effect and you must begin notifying your workers and former workers right away.  Notices to former workers who terminated before February 17 must be sent by April 18.
 
Most companies (probably yours) are affected. If you employ more than 20 workers and you laid someone off starting September 1, 2008, complying with COBRA is now a whole lot more complicated. Even if you employ fewer than 20 workers and maintain group health plan coverage subject to continuation coverage rules, your compliance burdens have increased.
 
These changes subsidize COBRA premiums (resulting in potentially more individuals electing COBRA coverage) establish a new election period, require new COBRA notices and modifications to existing notices, and more.
 
Find out what you should be doing by taking part in Kiplinger's newest 90-minute interactive audio conference on March 26.  You'll get the lowdown on everything you need to know about the latest changes to COBRA, from a sample legal notice updated with your new responsibilities to step-by-step details on how your business is affected, what you need to do, to whom, by when, and a whole lot more.
 
Best of all, you'll have the chance to get your specific questions answered live by a noted COBRA expert, including:

 
You get expert advice: Paul M. Hamburger, P.C. is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in its Washington, D.C. office, where he is a member of the Firm's Employee Benefits Department and heads the D.C. Employee Benefits Practice. In employee benefits planning and consultation, Mr. Hamburger advises employers on all aspects of their employee benefit programs, including matters affecting tax-qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans, ESOPs, cash balance pension plans, and other retirement plan designs), executive compensation plans, and welfare benefit plans (including cafeteria plan, COBRA and other group health plan issues). He also advises employee benefit plan trustees and service providers on various ERISA and employee benefit plan related matters. Mr. Hamburger has extensive experience in representing clients before government regulatory agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Mr. Hamburger currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center teaching the LLM tax course on ERISA Health and Welfare Benefit Plans. He is also a fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB), a member of the editorial advisory board for the "Benefits Law Journal" and a member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Hamburger is a frequent speaker on employee benefit matters, including annual presentations at the ABA National Institute on Welfare Plans since 1987. He is also an author of numerous articles and other publications on employee benefits matters, including three nationally-circulated loose leaf publications, each published by Thompson Publishing Group: "Mandated Health Benefits - The COBRA Guide," "The Guide to Assigning & Loaning Benefit Plan Money," and "The Pension Plan Fix-It Handbook."