Who is (Legally) to Blame for COBRA Delays?

Long story short, I can’t figure out who should be held responsible (if any) for my failed COBRA election because nobody notified me that the original administrator—who I sent my election to per its instructions—was no longer the COBRA plan administrator when I made the election.

I held off for a bit with my election but finally sent it within the election period to the original plan administrator (“Admin A”) per the required notice from Admin A within the election period. I waited and waited without a response. I finally called Admin A, who said it was no longer the administrator as of the time I sent my election in, and my former employer confirmed.

I chewed my former employer out, and they got the new plan administrator (“Admin B”) to send me a new COBRA election notice, which I received about 67 days after my original coverage expired. I’ll be sending my new election confirmation back tomorrow. I’m assuming it’ll take some time for that to process, which is a real problem because of scheduling for an appointment who refuses to take self-pay.

So under the COBRA refs, who is responsible for this cluster-F? I don’t intend to do anything too extreme at this point, but I’d like to know who I can rightfully give some serious ass-chewings. I’m a lawyer who deals with regulatory issues, and even I haven’t been able to figure this out without spending hours on it.

submitted by /u/Grum427
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