Filed under: Health Reform | Tags: employees, Florida, Human Resources, Unemployment
September 6, 2011
House Bill 7005 Brings Unemployment Compensation Reforms
by Gayle Meacham, PHR, Unemployment Compensation Administrator
On June 27, 2011, Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 7005, which brings about some major changes or reforms in Florida’s unemployment law. The reaction in the employer community seems to be quite optimistic, while claimants have voiced some dissatisfaction with parts of the bill.
Media attention seems to have focused mainly on the change in the duration of benefits. Effective January 1, 2012, the current maximum of 26 weeks will be adjusted to a range from 12 to 23 weeks, based upon the average unemployment rate in Florida for the third calendar quarter of the previous year. When the average rate is 5 percent or less, the maximum duration of benefits will be 12 weeks. An average rate of 10.5 percent or higher will result in a maximum of 23 weeks payable on a claim established during the following calendar year. The level of maximum benefit weeks will be calculated once per year on the third Friday in November, and using the average unemployment rate for the 3rd quarter of that year (July, August, and September). Florida has seen a downward trend since the beginning of the year, but the unemployment rate for June was still at 10.6 percent. As a side note, the average unemployment rate for the 3rd quarter of 2010 was 11.6 percent. At present, the maximum amount of regular benefits on a Florida claim is $7150. At 23 weeks, the maximum amount of regular benefits will be $6325.
An important change brought about by the bill is the definition of “misconduct.” The employer will still have the burden of proof, but that burden will be reduced on an employer when attempting to prove that employee misconduct was the reason for the job separation. The bill changes the language “willful or wanton” disregard to a lower standard, “conscious” disregard. The employer must still show that the employee was aware that their conduct disregarded the employer’s interests or disregarded reasonable standards of behavior that the employer should expect from the employee. The bill also addresses misconduct that could result in the employer being sanctioned or having its license or certification suspended by the state. There is also a provision that misconduct may take place at work or away from the workplace.
Individuals who file unemployment claims after July 1, 2011 must select payments via Florida Unemployment Compensation Debit Card or direct deposit to a bank account. House Bill 7005 phases out paper checks. Additionally, effective August 1, 2011, initial and continued claims must be filed electronically. Claimants will be required to contact five potential employers per claim week, and will be required to provide the work search information via the Internet when certifying for claim weeks. Claimants will be required to complete an initial online “skills review” which will reportedly be used by the local One-Stop Career Centers to assist claimants with job searches.
There are a number of other provisions in the bill. Overall, the reforms should save the state money, reduce taxes on employers and help Floridians get back to work.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Gayle Meacham is the Unemployment Compensation Administrator for Landrum Companies. She is a certified professional in human resources (PHR) and has more than twenty years of human resources experience, specializing in unemployment compensation.
Filed under: Benefits, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources | Tags: Health Reform, Human Resources, Insurance Reform, PEO, tax
The new law makes significant changes to the health insurance industry. Many provisions are complex and not yet defined by the federal government. And many more are subject to both state and federal rules and regulations. Some measures will be implemented this year. Many take effect in 2014, while others are not implemented until 2018.
(excerpt from presentation made by Diane Boyle, Vice President, Federal Government Relations National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). )
We have provided two video links we hope you will find informative and helpful in understanding the PPACA. We will continue to monitor the new regulations as they are developed and distributed by the government.
Videos
Healthcare Insurance Reform Seminar
Your Small Business and Health Care Legislation
Feel free to share these videos with your staff or colleagues. Submit your questions in the comment section or email questions@LandrumHR.com.
Filed under: Benefits, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources, Landrum Lagniappe | Tags: employees, employer, Health Reform, Human Resources, Insurance Reform, PEO
The Carrot or the Stick – Tax credits vs. Penalties
By Susan Hunsucker,CEBS
Well, I’ve spent the last three weeks talking about different aspects of health care reform. Because of the complex structure and its carrot vs. stick approach to health insurance in the form of credits and penalties for businesses, employers may want to take a new look at offering health insurance benefits. Keep in mind additional, clarifying information to help with implementation will trickle down from government agencies for some time to come. We will post updates as they are available.
There is no employer mandate to offer health insurance. The mandate is on individuals who, beginning in 2014, will have access to coverage through state insurance exchanges; however, this is where the “sticks” come into play. If you are a large employer and don’t offer qualified, affordable health insurance, there will be penalties. In 2014 when most of the new rules take full affect, employers will have to weigh the cost of paying to provide health insurance for their employees against paying the penalty for not providing it.
THE STICKS – Penalties for Large Employers
Large employers, defined as an employer that employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees on business days during the preceding calendar year, will be subject to penalties for the following:
• Failure to offer minimum essential coverage: Penalty for any month is equal to the number of full-time employees over 30, multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,000 ($166.67).
• Not offering minimum essential coverage and having at least one employee being certified as receiving a subsidy or tax credit for the premium . Penalty is one-twelfth of $3,000 ($250) for each employee, capped at 30, multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,000.
• Providing unaffordable coverage, defined as coverage with a premium required to be paid by the employee that is more than 9.5% of the employee’s household income: Penalty applies for any employee receiving an affordability waiver. Direction will be required for this as employers will not know the household income of their employees.
THE CARROT – The Small Business Tax Credit
(Employers with 25-50 employees are not eligible for credits)
According to a recent article in the Miami Herald, 80% of Florida’s small businesses (246,000) with fewer than 25 employees will qualify for the tax credit, and 77,400 of them will qualify for the maximum 35% for this year. In a previous blog I provided information on eligibility and how to calculate the credit. These credits may pay for up to half of the costs of providing health insurance. The maximum credit is 35% before 2014 and 50% for two years after. However, there is no transition after the two year cutoff. So come 2016, some firms’ costs could double, or they may be forced to drop a benefit that employees have relied upon.
WHAT NOW
We’ll have to wait for further clarification and instruction from the government agencies overseeing the implementation of healthcare reform. But here are a couple of options to consider if you have more than 50 employees:
Option 1: Don’t offer health insurance coverage to employees.
Result: There is a tax of $167.50 per month for all full-time employees (less 30).
Option 2: Do offer minimum essential coverage to all employees and dependents
Result: Employer cost of premiums
$250 tax per month per full-time employee getting subsidies, or $167.50 tax per month for all full-time employees (less 30), whichever is less.
Total cost will depend on several variables, such as employer contribution to the plan (minimum 50%), employee participation rate, and number of employees receiving the subsidy.
Employers will want to run the numbers and strategize how to best control costs. One strategy would be to minimize the number of employees receiving the subsidy by matching the lowest level in the Exchange, so employees aren’t eligible for the subsidy. Then the employer contribution must be high enough to make it affordable to employees.
I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the release of additional direction on these matters. Without the final regulations and direction it may be too early to run the numbers, but it might not hurt to talk with your tax advisor and see how things look for your organization. Check back to the Landrum Blog for updates.
Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
A Certified Employee Benefit Specialist from the Wharton School, Susan serves as Director of Operations, for Landrum Professional Employer Services. She handles benefits administration and payroll administration for thousands of employees throughout the Southeast. Susan has over 20 years experience in all aspects of benefits administration including insurance, retirement plans, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA.
Filed under: Benefits, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Landrum Lagniappe | Tags: employees, Health Reform, Human Resources, Medical, PEO
As promised in earlier blogs, here is additional information on the Grandfather and Non-discrimination provisions of PPACA (aka healthcare reform).
GRANDFATHERED PLAN STATUS
Grandfathered plans are group health plans that were in existence on or before March 23, 2010. Originally, it seemed advantageous to maintain grandfathered status to avoid compliance with some of the new requirements; however, grandfathered plans may lose their status if certain plan changes are made. Employers will have to weigh the cost of maintaining the grandfathered status against the cost of making plan changes.
Grandfathered plans do not have to comply with the following requirements:
- Nondiscrimination requirements for fully insured plans
- Providing participants with the right to select a primary care provider/pediatrician
- Elimination of any pre-authorization or increase cost sharing for emergency services
- Elimination of preauthorization or referral for OB/GYN services
- Changes to the appeals process
- First dollar coverage for preventative care
- Reporting health care quality and wellness initiates to HHS
- Incorporating cost sharing limits on out of pocket deductible expenses
- Coverage of routine costs of patients who are part of clinical trials
- Providing for minimum essential benefits
Plan changes that could jeopardize grandfathered status:
Clarification regarding grandfathered plans was provided by Health and Human Services (HHS) on June 14, 2010. If a plan loses its grandfathered status, it becomes subject to the above mandates. The changes listed below will cause a plan to lose grandfathered status if implemented March 23, 2010 or later:
- Changing insurance companies or entering into a new insurance policy
- Cutting benefits resulting in loss of coverage for a particular condition
- Reducing an employer’s contribution by more than 5%
- Increasing a member’s coinsurance percentage by any amount
- Increasing a member’s fixed-amount copayment above a specified level (defined as Medical Inflation expressed as a percentage, plus 15%); however a copay increase up to $50 increased for Medical Inflation is permitted – that is $5 times Medical Inflation plus $5
- Increasing deductibles above a specified level (defined as Medical Inflation expressed)
- Reclassifying employees so that the reclassified employees are eligible for a different plan (even if it’s a grandfathered plan), without a bona fide employment reason
- Adding an overall annual limit or reducing an existing overall annual limit
- Failing to maintain at least one covered individual
Plan changes which will not jeopardize grandfathered Status:
- Changing third-party administrators (without changing insurer)
- Changing premiums
- Making changes to comply with state or federal law including PPACA
- Agreeing to binding renewals before March 23, 2010
- Allowing new employees and their dependents to enroll
- Allowing new dependents of current subscribers to enroll
NON-DISCRIMINATION RULES FOR INSURED BENEFITS
Retirement plans and self-funded insurance plans have long been subject to non-discrimination rules and testing. Now some of those rules have been expanded to insured benefit plans, including rules that the plan may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated individuals as to eligibility to participate.
Compliance regulations are expected from the Department of Labor, IRS and other federal agencies. We expect rules similar to those for self-funded plans to be applied to insured group health plans, including rules for eligibility, benefits, and controlled groups. If this is the case, it will affect employers who have “tiered” benefit plans – richer benefits for owners or highly compensated employees, or employers who have multiple companies and offer health insurance to employees of one company, but not to employees of another company with the same ownership. We are still waiting for clarification on how the non-discrimination rules will be applied. Check back for updates.
Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
A Certified Employee Benefit Specialist from the Wharton School, Susan serves as Director of Operations, for Landrum Professional Employer Services. She handles benefits administration and payroll administration for thousands of employees throughout the Southeast. Susan has over 20 years experience in all aspects of benefits administration including insurance, retirement plans, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA.
Filed under: Benefits, Consulting, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources, Landrum Lagniappe | Tags: "Business Etiquette", "human resources consulting", Human Resources, Insurance Reform, tax
By Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
For those of you who are gluttons for punishment, here’s more about health care reform. This topic does come with some good news for those employers who qualify for a tax credit. The full 35% tax credit is available to employers with fewer than 10 full time equivalent (FTE) employees averaging annual wages of $30,000. The tax credit is reduced for employers that have fewer than 25 FTEs, averaging $50,000 in annual wages. The information below is a summary. The actual IRS calculations can be much more involved. Click here for the complete IRS News Release.
Here’s how the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit works:
Requirements:
• Have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees employed during the tax year
• Wages averaging less than $50,000 per employee per year
• Offer a qualifying health plan (generally, health insurance bought from a state-licensed insurance company)
• Employer must pay at least 50% of single coverage for their employees
Step I. Do YOU QUALIFY?
A. Do you offer qualified health insurance?
For any tax year beginning in 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013, qualified health insurance is insurance coverage within the meaning of Code Sec. 9832(b)(1). Generally, health insurance coverage bought from a state-licensed insurance company.
B. Determine the number of FTEs:
Divide the total number of hours paid to employees during the year (not to exceed 2080 for any one employee) by 2080. Round fractions to the next whole number. Some employees may be excluded from the calculations, such as seasonal workers.*
C. Determine the average annual wages:
Divide the total wages paid to employees during the employer’s tax year by the number of FTEs for the year. Round down to the nearest $1,000. Wages means wages as defined for FICA purposes.*
D. Determine the amount of eligible premium:
Health and Human Services (HHS) has determined the average premium for the small group market in a state and the IRS has published those figures. The amount of an employer’s premium payments for purposes of calculating the credit cannot exceed the published average premium for the state the employer is operating in. For Florida, the amount is $5,161 for employee-only coverage and $12,453 for family coverage. For other states, click here.
Step II. CALCULATING THE AMOUNT OF THE TAX CREDIT
Example: For the 2010 tax year, a qualified employer has 12 FTEs and average annual wages of $30,000. The employer pays $96,000 in health care premiums for those employees (which does not exceed the average premium for the small group market in the employer’s state) and otherwise meets the requirements for the credit.
The credit is calculated as follows:
1) Initial amount of credit determined before any reduction:
35% x $96,000 = $33,600
2) Credit reduction for FTEs in excess of 10; $33,600 x 2/15 = $4,480
3) Credit reduction for average annual wages in excess of $25,000;
$33,600 x $5,000/$25,000 = $6,720
4) Total credit reduction $4,480 + $6,720 = $11,200
5) Total 2010 tax credit: $33,600-$11,200 = $22,400
Step III. CLAIMING THE TAX CREDIT
The credit is claimed on the employer’s annual income tax return. For a tax-exempt employer, the IRS will provide further information on how to claim the credit.
The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), has been busy in Washington looking out for the interests of small businesses. They were successful in having a provision included in PPACA, which allows a “look through” of the PEO to the client size, when determining eligibility for the tax credit. So if you are a Landrum Professional Employer Services client and would qualify for a tax credit, your relationship with Landrum does not change your eligibility. As a matter of fact, we can provide you with much of the information for your CPA to make the tax credit calculations.
*For more detailed information and examples, visit the IRS website.
Don’t forget to sign up for the free Health Care Insurance Reform Seminar at www.landrumhr.com. The speaker is Diane Boyle, Vice President, Federal Government Relations National Association and Financial Advisors.
Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
A Certified Employee Benefit Specialist from the Wharton School, Susan serves as Director of Employee Benefits and handles benefits administration for thousands of employees throughout the Southeast. Susan has over 20 years experience in all aspects of benefits administration including insurance, retirement plans, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA.
Filed under: Benefits, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources, Landrum Lagniappe, Uncategorized | Tags: "Healthcare reform", employees, Human Resources, PEO
By Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
Landrum Human Resource Companies, Inc
To be completely honest, the health care reform complexities have my head spinning. The terminology and volume of the law is simply mind boggling. Implementation will be long (with some provisions not scheduled to take effect until 2018) and cumbersome. After reading through hundreds of newsletters, updates, articles 
and websites, I decided to make an attempt at wrapping my brain and arms around the more immediate provisions of the law. For additional information, attend the free Health Care Insurance Reform Seminar on July 15th at the Amos Studio at WSRE-TV, PJC. The seminar is being sponsored by Landrum Human Resources, O’Sullivan Creel and Combined Insurance Services.
Background
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P-PACA). Just two days later, on March 25th, Congress passed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which modified P-PACA and included other provisions. Together they are “health care reform.” Over a series of blogs, I’ll give you an overview of the provisions, how they affect employers and the timeline for implementation.
Provisions Taking Effect in 2010:
• Small Business Health Tax Credit: Up to 35% of premiums immediately available to small firms that choose to offer coverage. Applies to employers with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees. More detail on this in my next blog.
• Young Adults on Parent’s Health Plan: Health plans are required to allow young adults up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ health plan. The State of Florida currently allows young adults up to age 30 to remain on a parent’s plan if they meet certain eligibility requirements.
• Insurers are prohibited from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for children up to age 19, in the individual market. Beginning in 2018, insurers are prohibited from denying coverage to anyone with pre-existing conditions.
• Group health plans and insurance companies are banned from rescinding coverage due to a medical condition, once an individual is enrolled in a plan.
• Group health plans and insurers are prohibited from setting lifetime limits. Annual limits are banned in 2014.
• Non-Discrimination Rules: New group health plans cannot discriminate in favor of highly compensated individuals as to eligibility to participate. Also, the benefits provided under the plan may not discriminate in favor of participants who are highly compensated. This does not apply to “grandfathered” health plans. More on “grandfathered” plans in a future blog.
• New private plans are required to cover preventive services with no deductible and no co-payments. By 2018 this will apply to all plans.
Other 2010 Provisions:
• Temporary reinsurance program to help companies that provide early retiree benefits for individuals aged 55-64.
• A high-risk pool will provide immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition. People who have been uninsured for at least 6 months and who have a pre-existing condition will be eligible for subsidized coverage through a temporary national high-risk pool.
• Medicare beneficiaries who pay for prescriptions out of pocket once they hit the $2,830 mark up until they hit $4,550 when Medicare picks up again, this is know as the donut hole, receive a $250 rebate. The coverage gap is closed completely by 2020.
• Increased funding for community health centers to serve the expected increased number of patients.
• States may cover parents and childless adults up to 133% of poverty level and receive current federal matching contributions.
• New limits set for the percent of premiums that insurers can spend on non-medicals costs. In 2010, health plans are required to report the proportion of premiums spent on items other than medical care
• Review of Annual Premium Increases: In 2010, the HHS secretary and states will establish a process for annual review of unreasonable premium increases. Health insurers will be required to submit to the Secretary and the relevant state a justification for an unreasonable increase prior to implementation of the increase.
Future blogs will expand on the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, the effects of the non-discrimination rules and grandfathered plan rules, as well as a timeline for implementation of additional provisions of the law.
Don’t forget to sign up for the free Health Care Insurance Reform Seminar at www.landrumhr.com. The speaker is Diane Boyle, Vice President, Federal Government Relations National Association and Financial Advisors.
Susan Hunsucker, CEBS
A Certified Employee Benefit Specialist from the Wharton School, Susan serves as Director of Employee Benefits and handles benefits administration for thousands of employees throughout the Southeast. Susan has over 20 years experience in all aspects of benefits administration including insurance, retirement plans, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA.
Filed under: Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources, Landrum Lagniappe, Uncategorized | Tags: CPA, employees, Health Reform, Healthcare Tax, Human Resources, PEO, tax
2010 Hire Act: Two New Tax Benefits Aid Employers Who Hire and Retain Unemployed Workers
post written by: Sharee Rich, CPP
Controller, Landrum Human Resources.
On March 18, 2010 a new law went into affect to provide employers with a tax credit for hiring workers who were previously unemployed or only working part time. As with any legislation, there are specific qualifications for both the employer and employees. A list of these qualifications can be found on the IRS Website.
Under the HIRE Act, employers who hire qualified individuals between February 3, 2010 and December 31, 2010 may be eligible for (1) an exemption of the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax contribution for that individual, and (2) an additional tax credit of up to $1,000.
The payroll tax exemption applies to wages paid from March 19, 2010 through December 31, 2010 to a “qualified employee”. Employers eligible for the 6.2% payroll tax exemption will be able to begin claiming the new tax incentive on a revised employment tax form (pending issuance by the IRS) for the second quarter of 2010. Even though the exemption begins on March 19, 2010, employers won’t lose out, because the amount of first-quarter wages that would have been forgiven will be allowed as a credit for the second quarter.
The reduced tax withholding will not affect the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and employers would still be responsible for withholding the employee’s share of Social Security taxes (as well as income taxes). The employer and employee’s shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages.
For each qualified employee retained for at least one year, employers may claim the “Retained Worker Tax Credit” which is equal to the lesser of $1,000 or 6.2% of such employee’s wages for the one year period. This retention credit can first be claimed on employer’s 2011 income tax returns. Note: For workers that would otherwise be eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, the employer must select one benefit or the other for 2010. There is no double dipping.
In order for employers to claim HIRE Act Benefits, including a payroll tax exemption or a new-hire retention credit, a qualified employee must complete and sign the affidavit. Form W-11 is available on the IRS Website.
On May 25, 2010, Landrum Human Resources and O’Sullivan Creel hosted a webinar on the HIRE Act and other new healthcare laws. Watch it now: Realities for Small Businesses Under New Healthcare Laws
Filed under: Consulting, Health Reform, Human Resources, Landrum Lagniappe, Notes from Jim | Tags: "healthy lifestyle", "human resources consulting", employees, Health Reform, Healthcare, HSA, Human Resources, PEO, wellness
post written by: Jim Guttmann, SPHR
Human Resources Manager, Landrum Professional Employer Services
Unless you have been living on another planet this past year, you would certainly know that health care is a hot topic around the water coolers, board rooms and households across this country. Ideas regarding how the rising cost of health care should be addressed and who is to blame are many and varied. Despite these differing views, most everyone acknowledges that health care costs play a significant role in the overall health of the U.S. economy. Faced with so much uncertainty and areas of disagreement, what can we do as individuals?
At Landrum Companies, employees are being asked to become “engaged” from two standpoints. The first is by living a healthier lifestyle. In recent years, Landrum has offered its employees numerous initiatives such as a monthly wellness newsletter, tips on healthy eating/drinking habits, encouragement to maintain a monthly exercise log, stress management and fitness
Landrum Running/Walking Team (photo on file)
These initiatives help confront what’s been found to be significant lifestyle issues for much of the American population. Specifically, problems associated with smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet. In a recent study appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, these four common bad habits alone can age an individual by 12 years! For more information on this topic, click here.
The other area addressed by Landrum and other employers is by way of a relatively new Health Plan option. The offering is a High Deductible Plan ($1,250 individual/$2,500 family (umbrella) when in-network providers are used combined with the opportunity to participate in a Health Savings Account (HSA). This offering requires a “shift in thinking about health care” from what most have been accustomed to in the past. Those open to this new paradigm in thinking will find many positive aspects to the program. In addition to a significantly reduced monthly premium under the medical plan, HSA contributions are pre-taxed, earnings on the account are tax sheltered and distributions from the account for qualified medical expenses are tax free.
Another key component is that the HSA account balance can grow on an unlimited basis and, unlike a flexible spending account; there is no end of year “use it or lose it” feature. In fact, the participants are the sole “owners” of the account and can even take their account with them if they leave the company. For Landrum employees, once they build up their HSA account balance enough to cover the medical plan’s out of pocket maximum of $5,000 per individual or family (in network); they are likely to become more informed and involved consumers of health care. (Note: it is entirely possible to reach the $5,000 balance in a matter of months). The IRS sets annual contribution limits. For 2010 the limit for an individual is $3,050 and for family plan the limit is $6,150, plus $1,000 annual catch-up contribution for eligible individuals over age 55.
That’s when the paradigm shift truly happens. As an engaged consumer, you have the freedom to play a more proactive role in terms of how and when health care services are purchased. That will certainly mean that providers of health care may come to understand that the cost/quality of care is important to you because, after all, you are directly involved in paying their bill.
As human beings there will always be uncertainty in that we never know when and to what extent we will need to use our health plan. No one is immune from unexpected illness or injury that may bring with it unanticipated health care costs. However, what we can all do is live a healthy lifestyle and become more informed and involved consumers of health care. Let’s get engaged!
Jim Guttmann, SPHR
Filed under: Health Reform, Human Resources, Notes from Ted | Tags: Health Reform, Human Resources, Insurance Reform
posted by Ted A. Kirchharr, Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer, Landrum Human Resources
As Americans watched the debate over health insurance reform with varying degrees of interest, I was reminded of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s famous quote about lawmaking: “The less people know about how sausages and laws are made the better they will sleep.” After watching our Congress at work I couldn’t agree more!
Without question, big changes are in store for the American people. Many of the changes will be phased in over the next several years. For example, the fines for individuals not having health insurance will not begin until 2014. Some provisions, however, will be implemented rather quickly. A new subsidized, high-risk insurance program for those with pre-existing conditions will become available three months after enactment of the bill. Six months after enactment, lifetime limits on medical coverage will be prohibited for many plans.
The biggest change for employers will impact those with more than 50 employees. Beginning in 2014, you may be subject to federal fines if you do not offer employees health insurance. Unfortunately federal rules will have to be written to implement many aspects of the bill, thus prolonging the uncertainty. This is in addition to the inevitable court challenges that are sure to come.
We have found some useful websites to follow this important issue. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a wealth of information about the legislation. The US Department of Health and Human Services is the site to monitor for guidance, as is the government’s Medicare site. As we identify more sites we’ll add them to our blog.
We’ll likely see continued debate and information (as well as misinformation) on this topic over the next several months. Sausage anyone?
