Obamacare is Right Around the Corner

By Jeri Denniston, Denner Group International.  September 27, 2013

Takeaways: Obamacare will impact individuals and business alike. Small businesses in particular face some unique challenges. National Federation of Independent Business offers information about the impact of the national healthcare reforms.

Oct 1 kicks off the enrollment period for January 2014 implementation of Obamacare health insurance reforms. Are you prepared? Now is the time to consider the ramifications for your business before 2014 unfolds.

Regardless of whether your business operates with fewer than 50 employees or more, the new healthcare laws will affect you. This is especially important for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and could impact your expenses – especially if you haven’t offered health care insurance before.

The National Federation of Independent Business created a webinar in March 2013 which explains the implications for small businesses. Click below to watch the webinar or visit the website to download the slides.

Businesses with less than 50 full time equivalent employees (130 hr/mo or those with Full Time Equivalents defined as total monthly Part Time employees divided by 120 hours) are not mandated to provide insurance or pay penalties. But business owners with multiple small businesses will be aggregated into one large group. If those employees are greater than 50 then they will be required to offer insurance. By 2016 this aggregated market expands to businesses with less than 100 employees and those are subject to all the health insurance reforms, as are individuals, too. You’ll be paying for all the changes one way or another.