Things To Know About The Upcoming Healthcare Reform

Now that the Election is over, Obama is in office for another 4 years. Some of you may be thinking “Great now this whole “Obama Care” deal is definitely going into effect. This is going to suck.” Let’s take some time to look at the upcoming health care reform and see what it really is. Everything thing I write about in this article uses sources directly available to the public. I will include links to government web sites that I use for sources so that you can get more information at your leisure. This is just a quick guide.

Let us start with changes to family health and individual care. The biggest change to family health care plans is that parents will be able to keep dependent children on their plan until age 26. As long as their children are not eligible for their own job based insurance plan. This change has already gone into effect.  Another change that does not start until 2014 is that Insurance Companies can no longer impose lifetime dollar limits on essential coverage. Starting in 2014, if your annual income is less than $88,000 for a family of four and your job does not offer affordable coverage, you may be eligible for a tax credit to assist with paying for health insurance. Job based health plans and new individual plans will no longer be allowed to exclude coverage for children under the age of 19 based on health conditions, including babies born with health conditions. Also starting in 2014, if your employer does not provide health insurance coverage, you will be able to purchase health insurance directly from an exchange that will give you the same power as large companies and congress to find the best coverage at the best prices. More information can be found at healthcare.gov

Now let us look at group employee benefits. First, there is no requirement for businesses to provide insurance for employees. However it may be in the best interest of the company to provide such benefits.  Aside from the obvious benefits of making sure your employees are healthy and able to work, businesses will be eligible for tax credits as high as 50% for providing employees with health benefits. Currently businesses are only eligible for tax credits up to 35%. That’s a pretty decent incentive. Now for the down side… An employer with at least 50 full time employees who does not offer health benefits may be assessed a tax penalty starting in 2014 for employees who use tax credits to help buy their own insurance. This is to offset the tax cost of helping the employee get health care. It’s all checks and balances. While there is no requirement to provide insurance, it certainly looks to be beneficial. You can get more information at healthcare.gov

Deutsch Insurance Associates is a licensed Health insurance agency. Making sure our clients have the best coverage available to them. We can help you make sure that you have a policy with a company that is compliant with the upcoming reform. Contact one of our agents today.