COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. This act is intended to give you and your covered dependents the right to continue to receive extended health benefits and dental coverage even if you lose your benefits under certain circumstances. Certain reasons why you might lose your coverage include marriage, divorce, birth, or adoption of a child. Generally, COBRA coverage can last to a maximum of 36 months depending on the circumstances under which you originally lost the coverage.
As you can see, there can be many complications associated with the correct administration and management of COBRA premiums and payments.
Solo by Affordable Solutions is sold as an easy-to-use service that takes the headache and hassle out of COBRA administration.
Solo is sold as a subscriptioned software service that helps employers manage and comply with day-to-day COBRA regulations. By providing a consistent administrative framework using the familiar Windows interface, employers will not feel intimidated to use this program. All of the notices and Solo-generated letters have been either created or viewed by an attorney to ensure COBRA compliance. However, if you decide that you would like to customize your correspondence, notices can be transferred into Word for personalized editing.
One of the best features of Solo is that whenever there are court rulings or changes to the legislation, Solo automatically incorporates those changes into its software; notices, letters, or functionality will all reflect these regulation changes.
Another useful function of Solo is its ability to connect with your current payroll system or HR database to import data directly into Solo.
Some of the most common comments from Solo users are Solo´s ease of use, and degree of flexibility.
Solo employs "intelligent" software. This implies that Solo keeps track of and calculates important dates and deadlines. Solo´s designers have added "reminder" functions to the program to make it easier for novice COBRA administrators. For example, if a user enters a date that doesn´t coincide with that individual´s proper COBRA dates, a pop-up screen appears to notify them of this problem. Reminder reports will also appear to notify users of date-sensitive deadlines and tasks.
Unlike other isolated applications, data can be easily imported or exported in and from other applications and is MS Office interactive. Therefore, Solo has improved functionality and flexibility by being able to connect, not only with your HRIS, or payroll system, but also to most Internet-based HR and benefit enrollment systems.
Other Features include:
From Affordable Solution´s web site, they state that Solo is a 32-bit application written in VBA utilizing Microsoft Access 8.0 Runtime. It is written with the data residing in a front-end/back-end relationship.
Solo was designed as such to increase the flexibility of server data retrieval by integrating five methods of foreign database connectivity including MS Excel, dBase, MS FoxPro and Paradox. In addition, Solo has a powerful reporting tool that directly connects to MS Outlook, Word and Excel.
By using MS Access 8.0 database, Solo is so flexible that it is also possible to use third party Active X controls and applications as add-ons. Importing and exporting data is also a snap and can be exported into a variety of formats including RTF, HTML, and TXT.
|
Standard Version |
Initial |
Renewal |
|
Less than 100 active employees |
$199 |
$199 |
|
100 active employees |
$349 |
$199 |
|
Multiple Location Version |
Initial |
Renewal |
|
For employers who need a more flexible structure with both location and consolidated reporting |
$899 |
$299 |
HR.com has looked at two other COBRA compliance software programs. Since Solo is a subscriptioned application, this type of ongoing plan may appear less attractive. However, one of the benefits to this plan is the assurance that you will be receiving the most up-to-date information regarding any changes to COBRA regulations as they will automatically be built into the Solo functionality.
If you are not satisfied with Solo, Affordable Solutions will provide 100% refund of the licensing fee within 90 days of the date of purchase.
Free telephone, email technical service
Unlimited free access to Web Site User´s Forum and FAQ´s
Training is available for a small fee.
On-line help is not available in preview. It will be included on the final release.
Solo comes with an extensive 30-page Set-up Manual and 75-page User´s Manual. You can either use the paper-based print out or can also access it electronically from the Help menu when Solo is running.
Solo´s manuals are extremely helpful and detailed. They outline the step-by-step actions you must take to ensure that your system is properly set up.
It would be nice if they could put an alphabetical index at the back of the manual. There is a detailed table of contents at the front of the manual, however, finding topics would be easier with an index.
Additionally, there is no automated help guide in the application. For example, you cannot perform a keyword search or electronically scroll through a help index. Instead, a Word document manual, the same as the paper-based manual is available for viewing.
Solo is not difficult to set up, but there are a few precautions and extra steps that need to be taken before Solo is up and running.
First, you need to enter your own company-specific COBRA plans and rates, as well as set up your own global settings.
Second, it is advisable to review, test print, and edit the Sample COBRA notices from another module within Solo. They recommend that you at least put your own company name on the header and in the body of some of the documents.
The length of the setup manual is somewhat of an indication of the steps that you must go through in order to start using Solo, i.e. there are quite a few necessary settings that must be first established. However, no matter what application you purchase, this whole set up process must be endured and Solo makes is extremely easy for you to follow along in their manual.
Since Solo is competitively priced and can integrate very easily into your existing systems, there´s a good chance that Solo can provide the solution to your COBRA requirements. However, if you are presently using an HRIS, you should check to see if it has its own COBRA module.
There are some slight limitations to the software. However, it appears that, what I would consider the main concern, the inability for multiple users to edit the same data fields simultaneously, is presently being worked on to allow multiple user simultaneous edits.
Solo is extremely well-priced and is very affordable. In addition, Solo´s interface is straight-forward, clear, and easy to use. They have tried to make the application as easy as possible to use with reminder pop-up windows, automatic database connectivity, drop down menus and automatic print functions, etc. All of the relevant COBRA participants´ information is made available on one screen and their search function is also simple to use and provides multiple methods of searching and obtaining your data.
You can´t beat their 90-day money back guarantee. But if you have any reservations, Affordable Solutions gives you the opportunity to purchase 30-day preview software for $15. This will include a fully-functional 30-day program complete with manuals and additional information.
One of the best ways to become familiar with Solo and COBRA compliance, in general, is to learn how COBRA is intended to work and what it is meant to provide. Affordable Solutions has a section on their site, COBRA Links that gives users some excellent suggestions of books to read and COBRA sites to visit.
Mary Jo Drake and Karen Neville are both employee benefit professionals with each over 20 years of experience. They were both motivated by the increase in mandates, regulations, and administration required of employers. In 1997, they founded Affordable Solutions and created the Solo COBRA productivity software to assist both employers and administrators in COBRA/HIPAA compliance and administration. Check out their site at www.affordablesolutions.com.
Affordable Solutions
1833 North 105th,
Suite 303, Seattle, WA 98133
Telephone: 206.729.1571
www.affordablesolutions.com