Federal legislation enacted into law on Monday, December 21, 2009 will permit the following benefit changes related to subsidized COBRA premiums:

1. The subsidized COBRA program offered by the Southern California IBEW-NECA Health Plan will now be available for up to fifteen (15) months as opposed to the nine (9) months made available under the February 2009 original legislation known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

If your 9 month COBRA subsidy period ended December 1, 2009, you can continue to pay the reduced premium for your COBRA coverage for up to an additional 6 months. If you were paying the reduced COBRA premium for November 2009 and were eligible to continue to keep your COBRA coverage for December but decided to cancel your COBRA coverage because you could not afford to pay the full COBRA premium for December, you can still keep your COBRA coverage by paying the reduced COBRA premium amount by February 17, 2010. Also, if you were paying the reduced COBRA premium for November and then paid the full (unreduced) COBRA premium for December please contact the Trust Funds Administrative Office to determine if you are due a refund or credit on the overpayment.

2. The new legislation extends eligibility for the COBRA premium assistance by two (2) months, until February 28, 2010.

As always, any questions you may have regarding your benefits may be directed to the Trust Funds Administrative Office at (323) 221-5861 or 1-800824-6935.

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