COBRApoint NPM Import Specification



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|NPM Import Specification |

|(COBRA Initial / General Rights Notice) |

|DEFINES IMPORT VERSION 1.0 |

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|Revised March 2020 | Benefit Strategies, LLC |

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NPM Import Specification

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Definition of Terms 1

2.1 NPM – New Plan Member 1

2.2 CSV – Comma Separated Values file 1

2.3 Import Version 1

2.4 Line Identifier 1

3 Import File Process 1

4 Import File Layout 2

4.1 [VERSION] 2

4.2 [NPM] 2

5 Data Types 3

6 Sample Import File 3

NPM Import Specification

Introduction

This specification will explain the format and function of the import file used to systematically load NPMs into the COBRApoint system.

Definition of Terms

The import specification document uses various terms that may have different meanings to different audiences. Section 2 will help to explain these terms in the context of this document.

1 NPM – New Plan Member

A NPM is a new active plan member who should receive a COBRA General Rights Notice.

2 CSV – Comma Separated Values file

A CSV file is a text file that contains values on each row that are separated by commas.

3 Import Version

Each file should include the [VERSION] being used at the top of the file. An example of what this should look like is provided below.

[VERSION],1.0

4 Line Identifier

Each text line that is imported must have as its first field a “Line Identifier”. For importing a NPM record, you will need to start each line with [NPM]. This line contains the employee’s demographic information.

Import File Process

The CSV import file that’s created should match the specifications defined in this document and be encoded in ANSI format. Please note, you should NOT use Excel to edit or save these files as Excel will alter the format of large numeric columns (such as SSN) and make them unreadable to COBRApoint. This import file can be built with a simple text editor (such as Notepad) or can be generated from an export program written for an existing database.

This file is intended to be changes only, not a full file of enrolled members.

Import File Layout

The version and line identifier that were explained in section 2 above each expect various fields to follow them on their respective line. The tables below define each of these fields.

Please note, required fields will need to have a value after the comma that corresponds to the data type specified. Non-required fields may be left blank (nothing appearing between the commas).

A COBRA General Rights Notice must be sent within the first 90 days of coverage to employees and spouses. The UsesFamilyInAddress field on the [NPM] line should be set to True if both are covered. If the spouse has a different address than the employee, the spouse should be listed with his/her own [NPM] line on the file so a separate GRN is sent.

|[VERSION] |

|Column Name |

|Data Type |

|Required |

|Accepted Values |

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|VersionNumber |

|Integer |

|( |

|Use “1.0” for this import specification. |

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|[NPM] |

|Column Name |

|Data Type |

|Required |

|Accepted Values |

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|SSN |

|SSN |

|( |

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|IndividualIdentifier |

|Text - 50 |

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|ClientName |

|Text - 100 |

|( |

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|ClientDivisionName |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|FirstName |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|MiddleInitial |

|Text - 1 |

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|LastName |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|Salutation |

|Text - 35 |

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|MR, MRS, MS, MISS, DR |

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|Email |

|Email |

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|Phone |

|Phone |

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|Phone2 |

|Phone |

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|Address1 |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|Address2 |

|Text - 50 |

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|City |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|StateOrProvince |

|Text - 50 |

|( |

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|PostalCode |

|Text - 35 |

|( |

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|Country |

|Text - 50 |

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|Leave blank if the person resides in the US. |

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|Sex |

|Sex |

|( |

|M, F, U, Male, Female, Undisclosed |

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|UsesFamilyInAddress |

|Boolean |

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|This field adds “and Family” to address labels if TRUE is listed. If this field is left blank, the system will default to FALSE. |

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|HasWaivedAllCoverage |

|Boolean |

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|If this field is left blank, the system will default to FALSE. |

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|SendGRNotice |

|Boolean |

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|This field should list TRUE. If the field is left blank, the system will default to TRUE. |

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|HireDate |

|Date |

|Situational |

|Required if NPM with same SSN exists. This field would be used for sending a rehire. |

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Data Types

The data types that are used in the various import sections are defined below. Please note, the fields in the import file are all text fields (since it is a CSV file) and the definitions below explain the formatting of the text in that field.

|Data Type |Definition |

|Text |Can be any text value up to the number of characters specified. If the text contains a comma, then the entire field should be enclosed in|

| |double quotes (“). |

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| |Examples |

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| |Client Name: “Benefit Strategies, LLC” |

| |Last Name: “Doe, Jr.” |

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|Integer |Can be any number from 0 to 32,767. No punctuation |

|Date |Entered as MM/DD/YYYY, where MM is the month, DD is the day and YYYY is the year. You can use a single digit or two digit leading zero |

| |for the month and day. The year should always be entered as 4 digits. |

|Boolean |True = "1", "Y", "YES", "T" or "TRUE", False="0", "N", "NO", "F" or "FALSE" |

|SSN |Format as 9 digits – no punctuation. Note that leading zeros are required if the SSN begins with zeros. |

|Sex |Single character where M = Male, F = Female, U = Undisclosed. |

|Phone |Format as 10 digits |

|Email |Text – 100, with at least one “@” and at least one “.” after the @ symbol. |

Sample Import File

Below demonstrates the layout of a sample NPM file containing three new covered employees as well as a covered spouse.

[VERSION],1.0

[NPM],999991111,,“TestClient1, LLC”,TestDivision,John,J,Doe,,JDoe@,6031111111,,1 Tester St,,Manchester,NH,03101,,M,F,F,T,,

[NPM],999992222,,“TestClient1, LLC”,TestDivision,Jane,,Doe,,,6032222222,,2 Test St,,Manchester,NH,03104,,F,F,F,T,,

[NPM],999993333,,“TestClient1, LLC”,TestDivision,Sally,R,Sample,,,6033333333,,3 Test St,,Manchester,NH,03104,,F,T,F,T,02/21/2017

[NPM],999994444,,“TestClient1, LLC”,TestDivision,William,R,“Test, Jr.”,,,6034444444,,4 Test Ln,,Manchester,NH,03104,,M,T,F,T,,

Note # 1: John Doe is a newly covered employee and Jane Doe is his covered spouse. They live at separate addresses. So, each should be listed with a separate [NPM] line to generate a notice for each.

Note # 2: Sally Sample is listed with a date in the HireDate field. She was originally hired on 10/15/2014 and was sent a general rights COBRA notice. Sally terminated employment on 1/8/2015. She has now been rehired as of 2/21/2017. Since Sally received a general rights COBRA notice when she was initially hired in 2014, a second general rights notice will not generate unless her rehire date is passed on the NPM import file.

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