On July 2nd 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury changed the effective date for Health Care Reform for Employers with more than 50 employees to January 1st 2015. This is clearly a political move by the politicians in an effort to assist with their re-elections in October of 2014. With these elections approaching, I expect more surprises to be presented through out the year. All of the politicians are afraid of the ramifications of this Law they passed.
Health Care Reform Change
While this notice leaves more questions than answers, the U.S. Department of Treasury has promised “Within the next week, we will publish formal guidance describing this transition” Once this information is released I will write a follow-up blog outlining what has changed and how it will affect you.
Employers with more than 50 Employees
With this change Large employers WILL NOT be subject to fines or the reporting requirements in 2014.
“We recognize that this transition relief will make it impractical to determine which employers owe shared responsibility payments (under section 4980H) for 2014. Accordingly, we are extending this transition relief to the employer shared responsibility payments. These payments will not apply for 2014. Any employer shared responsibility payments will not apply until 2015. “ U.S. Department of the Treasury
Small Business Employers
At this time there are no changes, however if you have under 50 employees and do not have a grandfathered plan, you will still be required to change your Health Insurance plan to meet the new Health Care Reform requirements. Please not All carriers are now offering early renewal that will allow you to put off the changes in Health Care Reform until December of 2014.
Since the majority of people obtain their Health Insurance through Small Business Employers, I do expect that something will happen to assist Small Business Employers with their Health Insurance options for 2014. I do expect that you will be able to keep your current plan through 2014. This is my speculation and I have no secret or insider information about this. After all, Health Insurance is now just politics that will affect everyone.
Individual Exchanges
I expect Individual Exchanges to be in full force effective January 1st 2014. The reason I am sure this is not going to change is because the politicians want to secure their votes. You will be happy if you are low income and can buy your insurance through the Exchange and have the government pay a large portion of your premium. Read our article about Health Insurance Subsidy Calculator to see how this could benefit some politicians to obtain reelection.
The only thing that remains constant about Health Care Reform is that it is a moving target and will be changed constantly for any perceived benefit for politicians. I will keep you informed about what is changing and how to make sure you are doing the best thing for your Business and family.
