Concept Link IconServiceXG Basics

Process a COBRA payment

Once a member has received their offer letter, reviewed the plans and cost, and has chosen a plan, they'll need to make payments to keep the plan in Active Payment (AP) status.

Follow the instructions below to process the COBRA payment.

  1. Open the member's record.

  2. Click Member and choose COBRA to display the COBRA Event Summary tab.

  3. Double-click the necessary event in the Qualifying Events table.
    4. Note: You can only process a COBRA payment for events that have a status of Active Election (AE), Active Pay (AP), and Active Pay Subsidy (APS).
  4. The Event Detail tab displays the detailed event information you selected, including the Qualified Beneficiaries/Elect Coverage, Pay/Adjust, and Status History subtabs.
  5. Click the Pay/Adjust subtab to view the payment area.

    6. * indicates a required field

    Field Description
    Received Date* The date the COBRA payment was received. Defaults to the current date. Note that the Received Date might be a future date, but the system warns you of this by putting a yellow/orange border around the field and including the tool tip: "Received Date is in the future."

    Deposit Date*

    		 The date the COBRA payment was deposited. Defaults to the current date.
    Payment Amount* The amount of COBRA payment. Must be a positive value greater than zero.
    Check Number

    The number on the check. Enter the check or authorization number. You can enter up to 30 characters.
    Group The group code. Depending upon your setup, you might be prompted for this or it might default to a code.
    Deposit Type*

    Defaults to COBRA type (CB—COBRA). You might change it when you're performing a payment/reversal process.

    Note: The available deposit types in this list depend on your setting of ELG SAC <105> Display COBRA Deposit Types Only (Y/N). Y only displays COBRA deposit types (CP) while N or Blank displays all deposit types.
    Payment difference If there is a difference in the Payment Amount and the Premium, the amount displays here.
    Recurring check box Indicates the member opted to have their payment recur every coverage period. If members don't have recurring payments, this check box doesn't display.
  6. From the I would like to: list, select process a New Payment.
  7. Select the Received Date and Deposit Date.
  8. Enter the Payment Amount.
  9. Enter the Check Number.
  10. If needed, select the Group.
  11. Choose the Deposit Type.

  12. The available deposit types in this list depend on your setting of ELG SAC <105> Display COBRA Deposit Types Only (Y/N). Y only displays COBRA deposit types (CP) while N or Blank displays all deposit types.

  13. Click Apply Payment. The payment will display as pending until you click Save icon to save.

  14. After saving the payment information, the following message displays: "Create a deposit item for this transaction?" If you choose , you'll receive another message saying: "Payment received with deposit reference number: XXXXXX." Click to exit. If a payment is greater than the premium owed for that month, the check will be split into two deposits—the amount remaining on the oldest month requiring payment and the remaining check amount.
Note: ELG COBRA SAC <107> Auto Calculate Eligibility after Completing a COBRA Payment determines if a member's eligibility automatically recalculates after you post a COBRA payment. When Y, a member's eligibility automatically recalculates based on the new COBRA payment. You can view the member's eligibility record to see the changes. Their last calculation date updates to the date the you posted the COBRA payment. If you reverse a COBRA payment, the member's eligibility and last calculation date update to reflect the changes. When this SAC is set to N or left Blank, a member's eligibility doesn't automatically recalculate after posting a COBRA payment.

The following messages might display depending on your system settings. You don’t need to save again.

Condition Message Action
The payment is the first payment to the COBRA event. "This is the first payment to this COBRA event. Move event into Active Pay (AP) or Active Pay Subsidy (APS) status?" Select either the AP or the APS option and the status of the event is changed to either AP or APS.
The payment is the final payment to the COBRA event. "This is the final payment for this COBRA event." Select .
The payment received date is after the payment status expiration date. "The due date has passed for this payment. Continue with this payment?” Select or .
The payment causes or continues to cause an overpayment. "This COBRA event has already been paid in full. Posting further payments will cause an overpayment.” Select or .
The payment is less than the due amount. "This payment is insufficient to satisfy the full premium. It may be posted as a partial payment." Select or .
The payment fails to complete. "Payment was not able to complete due to: <reason>". Resubmit the payment detail information. Click and resubmit the information.

Recurring Payments

If members decide to make recurring payments through the Member portal, you can see their payments made on the COBRA screen.

The Recurring check box will be selected for member who enabled this option, along with the date of their next payment.

Members must pay the full amount and pay any late payments before they can make recurring payments. When members are making recurring payments, you can't post any additional payments for them unless you disable their recurring payments.

Important! If members use Checks as their payments method, they can't make recurring payments.
Note: If members are set up for recurring payments, they're not included in the Detail report and the COBRA statements.

End Recurring Payments

Note: Ending the COBRA event (updating the status to an inactive status) will end the recurring payment. If the Expiration Date of the status that causes the event to end is in the past, is the current date, or in the future, the recurring payment won’t be processed.

To stop recurring payments, complete the following steps:

  1. Uncheck the Recurring check box.

  2. At the message "This will remove future recurring payments." click to confirm.

  3. Click Save icon to save and end the recurring payments. Note that to re-enable this payment option, the member must schedule the payment in the Member portal.

Concept Link IconSEE ALSO