What are taxable items?

Taxable items are pending repayments from the Plan Year. Pending repayments could be a result of a debit card transaction where the participant did not provide a receipt (claim substantiation) or the transaction was determined to be an ineligible expense. 

Why is it important to close a plan year?

The IRS requires employers to report and take additional action when participants have taxable items. Therefore, in order to comply with the IRS regulations, it is important that Surency assist with the closing of your Plan Year to provide necessary reporting. 

What is “Closing of a Plan Year”?

Closing of a Plan Year is a final review of the reimbursement accounts for all repayments throughout the Plan Year. 

Can Surency administer subsidized rate programs such as the California State extension, RIF/severance, early retirement, and other special programs that might precede or run concurrently with COBRA?

Surency’s system is capable of handling all types of subsidies, severance and retirement programs. Additionally, there are several mechanisms for dealing with individual state laws and requirements. 

Can Surency keep track of different COBRA plans/rates from different vendors?

Surency's COBRA Administration system is capable of tracking an unlimited number of plans and rates for each employer.

How often does Surency transfer the premium they collect from Qualified Beneficiaries?

Surency will remit to you ALL premium payments received each month, early the following month, or more often if requested.

What if a Qualified Beneficiary “bounces” a check to Surency?

Our system will notify any Qualified Beneficiary whose premium payment is returned by the bank or is short by a “significant amount.” The letter informs the Qualified Beneficiary they have until either the end of the grace period or ten days from the date of the letter, whichever is later, for replacement funds to be sent in order to avoid termination. 

What if a Qualified Beneficiary is late making their payment?

Surency follows the letter of the law and will terminate benefits for anyone who does not make their premium payment on time, unless it is specifically requested otherwise, in writing, from the employer not to do so.

After notifying them, what does Surency do to make sure that my health plan vendors actually “turn on” a Qualified Beneficiary in their claim systems?

Depending on the size of the group and the number of Qualified Beneficiary’s enrolled, notifications can be monthly or weekly. With large groups, Surency sends weekly files in the specific file layout specifications to both health and prescription vendors. Smaller groups are normally handled via hard copy paper reporting either weekly or monthly as per your request.

If we receive a call from a Qualified Beneficiary who is unable to access benefits, Surency will contact the vendor to determine why and work to resolve the issue for them.