The fastest way to get burned in benefits compliance is believing a notice “counts” just because it was sent. We sit down with Misty Baker, our Director of Compliance and Government Affairs, to talk about why required notices break down in the real world and what brokers and employers can do to make the message actually stick.

We get practical about the pressure points: COBRA timing (including the day-one initial notice), the decision to administer COBRA in-house versus using a third-party vendor, and the messy moments that happen when an employee hits a deadline they never realized applied to them. We also dig into digital delivery fatigue, why employees tune out even important emails, and how that creates extra work, late surprises, and avoidable liability.

Then we zoom out to the filings and deadlines that often get missed because “someone else” is assumed to own them. PCORI is the perfect example: what it is, who needs to file IRS Form 720 in self-funded and level-funded plans, and why July 31 should already be on your compliance calendar. Misty also explains a blunt reality of employee benefits compliance: employers are typically on the hook even when a broker or vendor is the one who dropped the ball.

If you want a clearer way to run client conversations, reduce penalties, and tighten your group health plan compliance process, this one will give you a framework. Subscribe to the CRC Benefits Podcast, share this with a colleague who owns compliance tasks, and leave a review with the notice or filing that causes the most confusion on your accounts.

Read Misty's article here: https://www.crcbenefits.com/tools-intel/why-required-notices-break-down/
Download the compliance doc and more here: https://www.crcbenefits.com/compliance/compliance-resources/