The health care reform has created a lot of confusion and concern among Americans for many reasons. As anyone who has taken a trip to the doctor recently or had a medical issue can testify to, prices of health care have gone up tremendously over the past years. Access to affordable healthcare is more difficult with prices increasing, and it makes it harder for some employers to continue to provide their employees with adequate if any support for health insurance.
A lot of individuals don’t really understand how the reform is going to affect them, or what may change. With such strong opinions and questionable statistics floating around everywhere, it is hard to discern exactly what all of this reform means. Small businesses in particular may face important changes. Many concerns arise for such employers about employee health insurance and other changes that may affect them. As we’ve all heard in presidential debates and focal speeches, small businesses are important to our country because of their growing representation in employment and role in the economy. In a summary on whitehouse.gov, the article discusses the difficulty small businesses may have in providing health insurance to their employees compared to larger businesses. They also expressed concern in that small firms tend to have less generous plans for their employees. This report summarized what small businesses can expect to change from the proposed legislation. Here are the highlights that will affect small businesses:
- Small businesses that meet determined criteria may be able to get health insurance through an “insurance exchange”. This would allow a greater variety of plan options that offer better coverage at lower prices than what small businesses can usually acquire.
- Employers that provide health insurance benefits for employees can receive tax credits to counter the higher costs to provide insurance as a small business and as an incentive for employers to provide coverage.
- The “insurance exchange” will also provide better options for workers in companies that don’t offer health insurance.
- Health insurers will not be allowed to screen for pre-existing conditions, which would potentially increase the costs of coverage.
These are just a few of the summary points. Employers should definitely start making decisions on what changes they may need to make. These changes are quickly approaching, with some changes becoming effective this year. Business week provides a helpful article on what is coming up in the near future that may affect small businesses. They discuss approaching changes such as exchange enrollment, tax credits for providing healthcare, and the addition of reporting health benefits on W-2 forms. Healthcare.gov also provides a helpful FAQ for what is to come for small businesses.
With new changes it is hard to avoid confusion and some complexity. This is an important time for employers to examine strategies for dealing with the changes and plans for change. This is something that shouldn’t be put off because these changes are beginning now. This is a great time to consult with your HR representative or other individuals that are informed on providing coverage and requirements that are coming into place. Regardless of the company viewpoints on the health care reform or ObamaCare, we all know that healthcare is important, and the health of our employees and their access to health care is a topic we should all be considering and working to improve.
