COBRA Administration
COBRA Administration Comparison
How to compare COBRA administration products: the capabilities we check against each vendor’s own documentation, and the products verified so far.
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LeadChange may earn a fee when you request pricing through our site or follow a sponsored link. Rankings never depend on whether a vendor pays us.
What we compare
No COBRA administration product is verified yet. These are the capabilities each one will be checked against, in the vendor’s own documentation.
Capabilities in the comparison
Qualifying event intake
Receives terminations, reductions in hours and dependent changes from HRIS, payroll or a web form, with time stamps.
General notices
Sends the initial notice of COBRA rights to newly covered employees and spouses.
Election notices
Produces and mails election notices after qualifying events and tracks each election window.
Participant elections and portal
Lets qualified beneficiaries elect coverage, view rates and pay online, by phone or by mail.
Premium billing and collection
Bills continuants, applies grace periods and partial-payment rules, and tracks paid-through dates.
Premium remittance
Sends collected premiums to the employer or carriers with reconciliation reports.
Carrier eligibility updates
Notifies carriers of elections, reinstatements and terminations by file or notice.
Coverage period tracking
Calculates maximum coverage end dates, extensions and early terminations, and sends the related notices.
State continuation administration
Administers state mini-COBRA coverage alongside federal COBRA.
Notice and payment audit trail
Keeps dated records of every notice mailed, election received and payment applied.
How to choose COBRA administration
COBRA administration is a chain of deadlines that starts with your data. The provider can only send a timely election notice if it learns about the qualifying event in time, so choose on how events reach the provider, how every notice is proven, and how premiums and carrier updates are reconciled.
It also differs from benefits administration software. Benefits platforms run enrollment, eligibility and payroll deductions for active employees and often list COBRA as a feature; a COBRA administrator takes over the former employees and dependents who elect continuation, including mailing notices, collecting their premiums and keeping carriers in sync. Ask any benefits platform whether its COBRA support is its own service or a hand-off to a third party.
Qualifying event intake
The employer must notify the plan within 30 days of events such as termination or reduced hours, and late data makes every later deadline harder.
Notice coverage and proof of mailing
The general notice, election notice, notice of unavailability and notice of early termination each have their own trigger and timing.
Election and enrollment tracking
Qualified beneficiaries get at least 60 days to elect, and each family member can have separate rights.
Premium billing and collection
Plans must allow at least 45 days for the first payment and a grace period of at least 30 days for later ones, and a short payment that is not significantly less than due can be cured.
Premium remittance and reconciliation
Collected premiums have to reach the employer or carrier and match what was billed.
Carrier eligibility updates
Coverage must be reinstated when someone elects and pays, and ended when coverage terminates early.
Requirements by company size
Small businesses
- Federal COBRA and state continuation handled in one service
- Simple event reporting through a web form or payroll sync
- Online elections and payments for participants
Watch out for
- Monthly minimums that exceed the value of a few departures a year
- State continuation left to you or the carrier without saying so
- Separate fees for each notice type
Mid-sized companies
- Automatic qualifying event feeds from HRIS or payroll
- Electronic eligibility updates to each carrier
- Paid-through and remittance reports for finance
Watch out for
- Carrier updates sent by fax or email with no audit trail
- Events that wait for a manual upload
- Remittance schedules that leave premiums held for weeks
Enterprises
- Multi-entity and multi-plan rate tables
- Capacity for large layoffs without missed deadlines
- Complete notice and payment history for audits and disputes
Watch out for
- Rush fees for high-volume events
- Custom rate structures that require manual work every plan year
- Unclear contract terms on who bears the cost of a missed notice
Red flags
- No dated mail log or proof of delivery for each notice
- Qualifying events reported by email with no time stamp
- The provider cannot explain how it handles partial or late payments
- Carrier reinstatements and terminations are left to you
- State continuation is excluded without being disclosed
- Marketing implies the service guarantees compliance or removes all employer responsibility
How we research
Ranked by the LeadChange Score, computed only from verified facts: capability coverage (30%), pricing and value (20%), integrations and API (15%), security (15%), fit and support (10%) and data confidence (10%), times a category fit. Products with too few verified facts are not scored yet and come last. Payment never changes a score or a position.
Facts, not impressions
Every input is a fact verified against vendors’ official documentation, with the date we last checked it.
Missing data is never assumed
Unverified items are left out of the score and lower its coverage; below 60% coverage a product is not scored yet.
Independent of revenue
Rankings never depend on whether a vendor pays us.
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