COBRA Premium Subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA)

Updated: April 1, 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. The ARPA has several benefits-related provisions, one of which is the COBRA premium subsidy. The ARPA provides for up to six months of 100% COBRA premium subsidies for eligible individuals, during the period of April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.

If you are a direct billed group, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama needs a listing of group employees who are eligible to receive this COBRA premium subsidy. The following information should be provided for each eligible employee:

• Group Name
• Billing Account Number
• Group Number and Division (use the COBRA Group Number and Division)
• Contract Number
• Employee Name and Social Security number
• COBRA Subsidy Eligible Qualifying Event...if the employee qualifies as a result of either 1) Involuntary termination of employment or 2) Reduction of work hours

Note: If the qualified beneficiary is a new COBRA participant, Blue Cross will also need the usual COBRA continuation of coverage application to enroll the qualified beneficiary as a COBRA participant under the plan.

The requested information for group employees eligible to receive the COBRA premium subsidy should be emailed to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama at COBRASubsidy@bcbsal.org as soon as possible. This email address is monitored only for the submission of the requested ARPA COBRA premium subsidy information. Any other information (such as the COBRA application for new COBRA beneficiaries) or questions should be addressed directly to your Enrollment Service Representative.