COBRA Administration
How COBRA Administration Is Priced
How COBRA administration are priced: the pricing models you will meet, what drives the cost and the fees that are easy to miss.
How much COBRA administration costs
Common pricing models: per employee per month, per participant, flat fee, per module or bundle, and custom quote. Too few vendors publish comparable list prices for us to give a price range (so far COBRAGuard does); the models and cost drivers below explain what you will be quoted.
Cost by company size
COBRAGuard COBRATrak Plus$0.85/employee/mo1 · minimum $29.95/mo1
| Employees | COBRAGuard COBRATrak Plus |
|---|---|
| 1 | $29.95/mo |
| 10 | $29.95/mo |
| 25 | $29.95/mo |
| 50 | $42.50/mo |
| 100 | $85/mo |
| 250 | $212.50/mo |
Pricing models explained
- Per employee per month. A fee for every employee enrolled in the health plan, covering general notices and readiness to process events, common for full outsourced service.
- Per participant. A fee per qualified beneficiary or per COBRA participant who elects and pays, sometimes combined with an employee-based fee.
- Flat fee. Per-notice or per-event charges for general notices, election notices and other letters.
- Per module or bundle. COBRA sold as an add-on to a benefits administration platform, payroll service or spending account program.
- Custom quote. Priced after scoping for employers with many plans, entities or carriers.
Extra and hidden costs
COBRAGuard
COBRATrak Plus per-letter fees: takeover $10, general rights notice $5, election notice $8, early termination notice $5, HIPAA certificate or notice $3, Premium Service Pack fee of $12.00 a month shown on the online quote2
Ameriflex
Employer COBRA processing fee: a percentage of the base premium set in the service agreement (3% in Ameriflex’s worked example), deducted from remittances3
Employee Benefits Corporation
Processing fee charged to continuants for one-time and credit or debit card payments, Form 5500 and nondiscrimination testing at an additional fee unless bundled with EBC FSA administration4
What drives the price
- Number of employees enrolled in health coverage
- Volume of qualifying events and notices each year
- Number of plans, carriers and rate tiers
- State continuation administration
- Integration with HRIS, payroll and carrier systems
- Bundling with spending account or other benefits administration
Fees to ask about before you sign:
- Monthly minimum fees
- Implementation and takeover fees when you switch from another administrator
- Charges for rush processing during layoffs
- Fees for carrier eligibility files or new carrier connections
- Postage and certified mail passed through
- Whether any part of the premium charged to participants is kept by the administrator
More on COBRA administration
- All COBRA administration services, ranked
The full ranking, top picks and how to choose.
- COBRA Administration comparison table
Every product side by side: score, price and verified features.
- COBRA administration for enterprises
The ranking reweighted for enterprises.
- COBRA administration for mid-sized companies
The ranking reweighted for mid-sized companies.
- COBRA administration for small business
The ranking reweighted for small business.
- COBRA administration for healthcare
The ranking reweighted for healthcare.
- HR software pricing index
Median published prices in every HR category, free to reuse.
Frequently asked questions
What is the COBRA administration fee?
The phrase is used two ways. For participants, the Department of Labor says the COBRA premium cannot exceed 102 percent of the plan's total cost, or up to 150 percent during a disability extension. For employers, it is what a COBRA administrator charges, typically per enrolled employee per month, per participant, per notice or as a bundle. Ask for every fee in writing.
Do COBRA administrators publish their prices?
Of the 9 COBRA administrators we track, 1 publishes a list price we can compare at 25 employees and 7 are quote-only (Ameriflex, BPAS, CobraHelp, Employee Benefits Corporation, and 3 more).
How this page was made
What it is built from
7 verified facts, each checked against the vendor's own pages or another primary source, most recently on Nov 2, 2026.
Method
Scored and compared with the LeadChange methodology, version 1.5. Read the methodology
Independent review
Not reviewed yet by our independent reviewer. How we review
Hands-on testing
We have not tested these products hands-on: this page uses public information only.
Who made it
The LeadChange Research Team, following a written research process. No named expert has reviewed this page. About us
Independence and errors
Who pays us never changes a score or a rank. If something here is wrong, tell us and we correct it publicly. Request a correction
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Sources
The 6 pages this page's facts come from, with the day we last checked each one. The numbers beside the figures above link here.
Quotes from the sources
- COBRAGuard cobraguard.net/pricing/dlpdf.php?Lives=0&Term=2“Base Charge Per COBRA Eligible Employee $1.50 $0.85” “Minimum Monthly Fee $39.95 $29.95”
- COBRAGuard cobraguard.net/pricing“Premium Service Pack Fee $12.00 $12.00”
- Ameriflex myameriflex.crunch.help/en/new-cobra-platform/cobra-processing-fee“Ameriflex applies an Employer COBRA Processing Fee to support the ongoing maintenance, security, and operational compliance of our COBRA administration platform.”
- Employee Benefits Corporation ebcflex.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/COBRA-Product-Sheet_S7-9026.pdf“All one-time and credit/debit card payments are subject to a processing fee assessed to the continuant.”
- Paycom Paycom pricing (Paycom)“A one-time implementation fee is included, while ongoing support from a dedicated specialist is provided to clients at no cost.”
- Rippling rippling.com/solutions/small-businesses“Your Rippling Implementation Manager will guide you through importing employee data, configuring benefits, and completing your first payroll run free of charge. You can expect to have 3 calls with your Rippling Implementation Manager that take 30 minutes to an hour. We also offer a consultative implementation service for businesses that have more complex or custom needs.”