Health Insurance is complicated. Very complicated. With the passing of ObamaCare (aka: the Affordable Care Act) it made it even more confusing. In this first blog I will break it down as it affects businesses and Business Health Plans. We can split up the Business Health Insurance requirements into 3 catagories. Small, Medium and Large employers. With Small employers, under 50 employees, as it stands now, you will never be mandated to offer Health Insurance to your employees. The law only affects businesses over 50 employees. Now, if you currently have a Group Health Plan for your business with less than 50 employees, you will probably have to upgrade your coverage to be compliant with ObamaCare.
Businesses with between 50-100 employees do not have to provide coverage, until 2016. New ruling
If your business is between 50 and 100 employees and you were not providing Health Insurance to employees, you have probably been sweating over the last year or so, wondering how you were going to make that happen. Well, you’ve been given a 12 month reprieve, until 2016. ObamaCare has been amended for your size company. You’ve been given 12 more months to comply with the law and provide affordable care to your employees. You must still do your mandated reporting to the government (another blog), but the actual plan, you can put off for another year. This has come as welcome relief for many of our employers.
If you have at least 100 employees, you better be ready for January 2015
If your business has at least 100 employees and you don’t already have a Group Health Plan in place, you should get busy….quick. January is coming up fast and planning is the key with ObamaCare. By January, you will either have to offer qualified Health coverage or pay a whopping penalty. At Brauer Insurance, we’ve been helping our groups get ready for this for the last year or so. It’s not too late. I can share a couple of game changing strategies that will help you immensely. If you already have a Health Broker that specializes in Health Insurance for companies and has you completely compliant, keep them. We are a rare breed. Our services are free. Whether you go direct or use a broker that is not a specialist, you don’t pay anything extra. If you are using a Farmers or Allstate agent, beware. They are not experts in Health Reform. They can’t be experts at Health Reform, and Fire Insurance, and Casualty Insurance, and Homeowners Insurance…etc. Call an expert, if not us, find one that you connect with.