Zinser Benefit Service - Small Business Insurance
Individual Insurance, Group Insurance and Employee Benefits, small business insurance
Zinser · · 2 Comments
I’ve been receiving questions about the individual mandate for 2014.
The law states that you may be subject to a fine if you go three consecutive months without medical insurance after March 31, 2014. Â If you go without you may face a penalty on your 2014 federal tax return, only if you’re subject to the mandate.
Here’s an article out of Benefits Pro that I was quoted in. Â Thank you Kathryn Gaglione from NAHU!
http://www.benefitspro.com/2013/12/18/whats-ahead-in-2014-for-ppaca
Here is some information to help you navigate Obamacare.
1 – Does your current health insurance plan need to change?
If you have a grandfathered plan your going to be able to keep your plan (as long as the health insurance company you have your grandfathered plan with allows you to do so).
If you have what they call a “transitional plan” you’ll be able to keep that plan until your renewal date in 2014. Â Once your renewal date hits in 2014, you will then be required to buy a plan that meets all of the essential health benefits.
If you buy a plan with an effective date of January 1, 2014, that plan will meet requirements.
2 – How will you pay for your health insurance in 2014?
Depending on your household income, you may be able to qualify for payment assistance that make insurance more affordable. Â The only way you can obtain assistance, is if you purchase your plan from either the state or federal exchange. Â If you buy a plan “off exchange” you will not received payment assistance or special discounts.
3 – What is the difference between on and off exchange plans?
In my opinion, the only reason you would go to either the state or federal marketplace (the government prefers this word, but it’s the fancy word for exchange) is if you qualify for payment assistance. Â If your income is over the assistance limit, then going off exchange is the way to go. Â I say this because you won’t have to prove your income, and answer all of the questions that the state and federal government require from you.
For example, here in Kentucky, Humana offers some plans that aren’t available on the state exchange. Â These plans have a more comprehensive network, then the current on exchange plans have.
4 – What type of plans are available?
Networks, co-payments, deductibles, and out of pockets differ between all the carriers. Â You must decide for yourself what is most important to you, and then work with an agent or broker (Zinser Benefit Service, Inc. would be one) who should be able to guide you to the right plan.
5 – When can you buy coverage?
The new open enrollment period for a January 1, 2014 effective date started in Oct 2013 and ends on December 23rd 2013. Â Once this date passes, you’ll have dates similar all the way up through March of 2014. Â If you miss during this time, you will have to have a qualifying event in order to enroll in a plan during 2014. Â A qualifying event would be any of the following:
This is just a brief overview. Â I hope it helps!
This was taken from something I received from Humana.
The health insurance tax
The Affordable Coverage Project, a coalition of business groups that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, wants more lawmakers to throw their support behind a House bill that would delay the health insurance tax for two years. The reform law imposes this new tax – or fee – on health insurers beginning in 2014. “With the economy still struggling to recover, small businesses, middle-class families and public program enrollees are not in a position to bear the burden of this tax,” stated a coalition letter urging members of Congress to cosponsor the bipartisan bill.
Meantime, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations on the premium tax, and guidance on the timing and manner of health insurer filings. The final regulations and related guidance closely mirror the proposed rule issued on March 1. However, a few minor changes and clarifications were made, including moving up the deadline for insurers to submit their net premiums to the IRS (from May 1 to April 15). The IRS is to send preliminary fee calculations to health plans by June 15; health plans are to send error corrections by July 15; final fee calculations are to be sent to health plans by Aug. 31, and payments to the IRS are due Sept. 30.
This was taken from a Humana email I received late yesterday.
Three more changes to reform law
In the past two weeks, the Obama administration has announced three major changes.
AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach says pushing the deadline back by eight days “makes it more challenging to process enrollments in time for coverage to begin on Jan. 1. Ultimately it will depend on how many people enroll in those last few days.”
As many pundits and politicians have noted, however, pushing the date back a month also means starting enrollment after the November elections. “If Obamacare is so great,” said House Republican leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, “why are Democrats so scared of voters knowing its consequences?”
The Washington Post wrote, “Administration officials characterized the decision as one made necessary as they prioritized fixes to the individual health exchange.”
Small businesses can still get subsidized coverage, but instead of enrolling online through healthcare.gov, they have to “go directly to an agent, broker, or to an insurance company with plans certified by the marketplace,” a Q&A document from CMS explains.
“This new delay announcement is a disappointment but not a surprise,” said the president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business. “Small businesses continue to be low on the priority list during the Obamacare implementation process.”