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New Health Plans Lower Premiums
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 Recently, several major carriers have added new plan designs to their individual product portfolios. These new plans offer a wide range of benefits options. Whether you are looking for a high deductible plan, HSA, or a more comprehensive health plan, there are a lot of options available that were not available several months ago. These new plans may be right for you if; - You currently have individual health insurance and you have not reviewed your policy in a while
- Your COBRA coverage is set to expire soon
- You want to see if you can save money by switching from your group plan
Individual plans are much different from group plans, and the individual plans can be as different as you and your crazy Uncle Eddie. So contact us by phone, fax or email and get ALL the facts about the new plans to see if they are right for you. |
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Health Care Reform Part I - Small Business Tax Credit
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One of the parts of the health care reform law (Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)) that has created the most questions has been the small business health care tax credit. The IRS (of all people) has a pretty good site for more information on the tax credit. You can find it here. Here is a quick primer on the tax credit: Eligibility RulesFor-profit and tax-exempt employers may qualify. However, all three of the following criteria must be met: - The employer must cover at least 50 percent of health care coverage costs for workers based on the employee-only (single) rate.
- The employer must have no more than the equivalent of 25 full-time workers (not counting owners or family members).
- Employees' average annual wages (not counting owners or family members) must be below $50,000.
Credit Amount- The maximum credit is worth up to 35 percent of a company's premium costs in 2010 (25 percent for tax-exempt employers). YES, this credit is available now! Note: The rate will increase to 50 percent on Jan. 1, 2014 (35 percent for tax-exempt employers).
The credit gradually phases out for employers with average wages between $25,000 and $50,000, and for employers with the equivalent of between 10 and 25 full-time workers.
NOTE: Any existing employer deduction is reduced by the amount of the credit, so the benefit is not as great as it may seem on the surface. Please consult your tax advisor to see how this affects your situation.
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Health Care Reform Part II - Extension of Coverage for Dependents to Age 26
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If the small business tax credit created the most questions, the extension of coverage for dependents to age 26 ran a close 2nd place. The legislation stated the extension would go into effect on September 23, 2010. Lots of media coverage was given to
the fact that most of the major carriers said they would start offering coverage earlier than the deadline imposed by the law.
This further complicated things because the way the carriers made early accommodations to the law was not uniform. Some carriers extended coverage for all dependents, some said the early offering just for dependents who are graduating and would have been coming off of their parent's policies due to graduation. Other dependents that want to stay on the coverage (or in some cases, get back on the coverage), may have to wait until the group's open enrollment. And if there was a break in coverage, pre-existing condition limitations MAY be imposed. See what we mean?
Morale of the story: This is a moving target with lot of pieces and parts, and each carrier is doing things a bit differently for the time being. As individual examples come up, it would not be wise to infer one answer based on another set of conditions. When in doubt, ask more questions.
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Health Care Reform Workshop
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The U. S. Small Business Administration "Success" Workshop Series is having a workshop on the topic,
"Health Care Reform
- What Does It All Mean"
Health care reform is all over the news. Thousands of pages of federal law and a reconciliation bill on top of that. What does this meant to the small business owner? In this seminar, we will focus on how it affects you and pay particular attention to the time line of the various parts of the bill. While most of the major portions do not come into effect until 2014, there are things you need to know now. We will discuss the facts and help dispel the rumors. We will help you cut through the uncertainty and understand what this bill has in store for you.
Speaker: Alan Jones, TPA Benefits
Time: June 8, 2010 8:00 am - 9:30 am
Place: Virginia Housing Development Authority, 4224 Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA
For details or to register: Contact James Williams at the SBA. 804-771-2400 ext 123 or james.williams@sba.gov
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COBRA Subsidy To Be Extended?
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Late last week the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees released a legislative package on Jobs, Loopholes and Extenders. It contained a proposal that extends the current 65 percent government subsidy of COBRA benefits for individuals laid off through December 31, 2010. Passage is expected as early as this week. We will keep you up to date and let you know as soon as we hear any more news.
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IRS Sends Bill For $.039. Really?
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 You hear about it but it never happens to you, right? Scratch me off that list. I received a letter in the mail from the IRS the other day. Seems we underpaid our taxes for 2009 - by a whopping 39 cents. $0.39! Are you kidding me? They actually go to the trouble to send me a letter telling me I owe them $0.39? I guess the $13 penalty offsets the cost of the stamp. Now I'm no math wiz, but that seems like a 3300% penalty to me.
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