Management Buzz 01/05 Keep up to do with COBRA, stop fearing exporting and more

That Bites

COBRA, the federal act that lets workers temporarily continuedrawing health insurance when they switch jobs, has been taken forgranted by businesses. But over the past year, the federalgovernment has changed important aspects of COBRA-changesslipping under small firms' radar.

"Ninety percent of companies are not compliant with the newCOBRA regulations," says Eric Raymond, CEO of Corporate SynergiesInc., a Mount Laurel, New Jersey, employee benefits consultingfirm. "It's impossible to stay on top ofchanges."

Entrepreneurs can't afford not to pay attention. Employersmust now give employees a written notice explaining COBRA, whichonly affects firms with more than 20 employees. These notices mustbe sent within 90 days of an employee joining the health plan. Oncean individual becomes eligible for COBRA, the employer must sendhim or her another written notice laying out COBRA rights.

Still, entrepreneurs don't have to throw up their hands."Find an outside broker who monitors and does [COBRA]compliance for you," says Raymond. Choose a broker who offersan errors and omissions policy-if the broker makes an error,the company can't be blamed.

Export Advice

Small exporters are one of the fastest-growing segments ofAmerican entrepreneurs, but many smaller companies are still afraidof operating overseas, where red tape, unfamiliar customs and otherproblems can stretch an entrepreneur's resources. Indeed,although small companies comprise more than 95 percent of all U.S.firms, they account for less than 30 percent of America's totalexports, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Help is on the way. The Department of Commerce is reaching outto smaller exporters with its new trade website, Export.gov, whichincludes a monthly publication detailing export information on arange of important markets. And now, the Department of Commerce haslinked up with FedEx to help smaller companies in a collaborativeeffort to guide small and midsize businesses into foreignmarkets.

Under this initiative, if a FedEx customer is looking for extraskills and research on foreign markets, FedEx employees will referthem to U.S. Commercial Service officers in the United States andoverseas.

These officers will then provide the entrepreneurs with a rangeof detailed information on the foreign markets that seem mostappropriate, giving entrepreneurs the kind of specific informationusually only available to larger companies. "We'recombining forces," says FedEx's Jim McCluskey."They're getting both FedEx's support and U.S.Commercial Service's knowledge."

Joshua Kurlantzick is a writer in Washington, DC.