Small Businesses Still Have Many Unresolved Issues
We’ve been continuing to research and write about the ramifications of the new health care legislation on our various Silkin Management Group blog sites. Since all Silkin Management Group clients are small businesses, we find it vital to keep a close eye on how this bill will be implemented and how that will affect not only our clients, but all small businesses.
Today I read an interesting article which you can access here: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/04/26/making-sense-of-the-new-health-care/?test=latestnews. This article covered an event put on by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in which a panel of experts discussed the legislation.
This article points out the following key issues:
• Employers are confused about adding dependants to existing policies and how much that will cost them.
• Tax guidelines for employers and employees are unclear.
• Employers who have to make decisions about their health care coverage for the next year are in a precarious position as the Department of Health and Human Service has not yet issued many needed guidelines to facilitate the decision making process.
• Yearly caps on benefits are not resolved.
• What changes plans grandfathered from the new law will have to make to maintain exempt status.
• Tax reporting requirements for small businesses will add costs for small businesses.
• Requirements for tax credits are very limited.
The article also gave a great example of how a business could use the new law to stop paying health care insurance for its employees and save a large amount of money. But, by doing so, it will increase the federal government’s cost and, if enough companies do this, it could result in another underfunded government program. Here’s the example given in the article:
“Monday’s event included the release of a study sponsored by the Chamber analyzing the impact of the new law which its backers said would insure more Americans while containing costs. The report cited a small Philadelphia trash company that has 55 full-time employees and spends $600,000/year on health care costs. In 2014, if the company decided to drop its health plan, it would pay $50,000 in fines. In other words, the study shows, the company will save $550,000 by not offering its workers health insurance and forcing them to find insurance on their own.”
We will continue to research up to date articles and information about this legislation in the attempt to keep Silkin Management Group clients and anyone reading our Silkin Management Group blogs informed about the latest questions and answers regarding this massive piece of legislation.
Dave McKevitt
Silkin Management Group Consultant
For more information about Silkin Management Group and our services, visit our website at www.silkinmanagementgroup.com. You can also contact us at: info@silkinmanagementgroup.com.
