Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Travis Software Corp. Newsletter! We hope you will find the articles included both interesting and informative as we attempt to keep you updated on the recent events and achievements from within Travis Software Corp. To ensure we continue to capture the most important issues from across the benefit administration software arena, we encourage our readers to send us newsworthy articles or items for future editions. Any feedback you may have on this issue can be sent to inf@travisoft.com.

• 281-496-3737
• marketing@travisoft.com

Travis News

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, of 2009 has proven itself to be the most notable expansion of the COBRA law in recent history. Since being signed into law on February 16, 2009, the Travis team has worked feverishly to make both our WebCOBRA and TravisCobra systems compliant with the new laws.

Some of the major changes ARRA brought to the COBRA law include::

• 65% Subsidy from March 2009 through December 2009 for COBRA participants who were “Involuntarily” Terminated on or after 9/1/2008.
• Employers will take the 65% reduction in premium as a credit against payroll taxes. If the reductions are more than the payroll taxes due, the government will send a check to the employers.

For more information on the ARRA regulations and how they have affected COBRA administration, please use the following online resources:

IRS Guidance: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204505,00.html
DOL ARRA Website: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html
ARRA Webinar: http://www.knowcobra.com/tspartner.htm

ARRA Updates made to WebCOBRA.com

A lot of you have been keeping up with all the WebCOBRA.com ARRA updates through our Blog, but for those of you who haven’t, below is a list of all the modifications that were made to the system in order to make WebCOBRA ARRA compliant.

• Three new ARRA Notification and Enrollment letters. (Link)
• Added ability to re-notify QBs of their ability to enroll in COBRA and the ability to notify QBs of their ability to change COBRA coverage through the Involuntary Term Re-Notification Wizard. (Link)
• Ability to apply a 65% government subsidy to QBs premiums and report back to the Government the subsidies that were applied with the ARRA Premium Reduction report. (Link)
• Three new ARRA paragraphs to be added to the COBRA Election Notice.(Link)
• Two DOL Model Notice forms, as well as an ARRA Denial letter. (Link)
• Ability to re-print ARRA notices and forms from the Manual Letter Wizard. (Link)
• Ability to exclude ineligible dependents from receiving the 65% subsidy by using the Plan Exclusion feature. (Link)

These are all the basic updates to the WebCOBRA.com system so that you can easily administer the new ARRA regulations. ARRA-based system updates are continually being worked on and released. To keep up with the expanding changes, please visit us at blog.travioft.com.

ARRA Updates made to TravisCobra

Over the past 6 weeks, there have been approximately 4 versions of TravisCobra released containing new features related to the ARRA regulations. We have been keeping you up-to-date in regards to what is being released in each version of the system via our Blog, emails, and the 8.3 ARRA release notes located on the FTP website. Below you will find a list of all the modifications that have been added to the TravisCobra system in order to make it ARRA compliant.

• Three new ARRA Notification and Enrollment letters. (Link)
• Added ability to re-notify PQBs of their ability to enroll in COBRA and the ability to notify PQBs of their ability to change COBRA coverage through the ARRA Re-Notification Process located under the Utility menu. (Link)
• Ability to apply a 65% government subsidy to PQBs premiums and report back to the Government the subsidies that were applied with the ARRA Premium Reduction report. (Link)
• Two DOL Model Notice forms, as well as an ARRA Denial letter. (Link)
• Three new ARRA paragraphs to be added to the COBRA Election Notice. (Link)
• Ability to re-print ARRA notices and forms from the Manual Letter Wizard. (Link)
• Two new options to allow ARRA for non-core benefit plans and to allow for State Continuation PQBs. (Link)
• Ability to exclude ineligible dependents from receiving the 65% subsidy by using the ARRA exclusion button. (Link)

All of these features were added as a way for you to administer the ARRA regulations quickly and easily. We are still working on ARRA-based system updates, and encourage you to visit us at blog.travisoft.com to keep up with the evolving changes.

What’s next for ARRA?

Now that the deadline for sending out ARRA notices has come and gone, what’s next? As COBRA administrators, you will be dealing with the ARRA subsidy until at least December 2009, and it may even extend through 2010 if you count having to notify COBRA participants of the end of their subsidy.

Right now, Travis is continually thinking of ways to make administering ARRA more convenient than it already is and we could use your help. A lot of our WebCOBRA and TravisCobra users have already begun submitting their ideas on how to administer ARRA to our Ideabook at http://ideabook.travisoft.com, and right now it is the fastest and the best way to get your voice heard.

Log-on, Submit your Idea, and Vote today!

WebCOBRA Training

Travis offers free Video Training for all of our WebCOBRA.com users!

This free training service will allow you to:

• Go at your own pace.
• Enjoy an Interactive, segment-based, Training Program.
• Receive WebCOBRA.com training anytime or anywhere you choose.
  

We recently published a new training video that goes over the Invoicing feature in the WebCOBRA.com system. So, if you have already viewed the rest of our training videos, you may want to log-in and take the Invoicing training to learn how to bill your clients on a monthly, quarterly, annually, or as-needed basis!

Video Training can either be used as an introduction to the many features WebCOBRA.com has to offer or as a refresher course to the WebCOBRA.com system. To get started on Video Training, please visit us at www.webcobra.com, and choose from over 10 different tutorials that we offer.

In addition to our WebCOBRA.com free Video Training Classes, we also offer training classes that are personally taught by a Travis professional. To request additional information about the personally taught training classes, please call us at 281-496-3737 and ask to speak with the Training Coordinator.

Desktop System Training

Learn How to Make the Most of Your Travis System with the Travis Training Program!

We want to help you get the most from your Travis System! Listed below is an updated class schedule for the upcoming months.

To request additional information about the Training Program or check availability of upcoming classes please click here or call us at 281-496-3737 and ask to speak with the Training Coordinator.

Got a Question?

Utilizing the following means of Travis Support allows your case to be created and handled in the most efficient and accurate manner. Once you have been assigned a case number for your support issue, you will be able to call in and enter your 5-digit case number into the automated phone system.

• Call 281.496.3737
• Submit a case via the Self Service Support Portal at http://login.travissupport.com

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Travis Software Corp. 1155 Dairy Ashford, Ste 250 Houston, Texas 77079

Phone: (281) 496-3737 Fax: (281) 496-4022 E-mail:inf@travisoft.com

Market Leader of Advanced Employee Benefits Software Administration