We’re all hearing a lot about health care reform, but much of the information can be confusing. REGIT is providing clients with information we receive that outlines the changes in easy-to-understand language.
At this time, we are primarily focused on the changes that will take place in late September 2010. One significant change occurring then is that employers with less than 25 employees and an average annual wage of less than $50,000 may be eligible for a subsidy for their employees’ health insurance premium.
Please contact me to receive the 3-step test that will tell you whether your business is eligible for the subsidy. We encourage you to do this soon. There is also a great deal of information at www.irs.gov that gives greater details of this subsidy. You may also wish to consult your accountant or legal counsel on this.
REGIT will continue to be a resource to you as health care reform regulations are written. Please feel free to call if we can be of help to you.
Lorraine Allen
(630) 652-1067
lallen@regitinc.com
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Timeline of health care reform
IMMEDIATE FIXES: 2010 – as of April 1st still waiting on these changes to be implemented, no exact time yet
- SMALL BUSINESSES: Tax credits start flowing to businesses with fewer than 50 employees, covering 35% of premiums, to help them afford coverage. By 2014, that will rise to 50%.
- SENIORS: They get a $250 rebate to help fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug coverage.
- YOUNG ADULTS: Health insurers are required to let young people stay on their parents' policy up to their 27th birthday.
- PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: Insurers will be barred from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Adults will have to wait until 2014 for the same protection. But high-risk pools will offer an option for affordable coverage until then.
- NO LIMITS ON COVERAGE: Insurers can't place lifetime caps on benefits any longer.
- PREVENTIVE CARE: New private plans will have to cover checkups and other preventive services with no co-pays. By 2018, all plans must comply.
2011
- HEALTH CARE COMPANIES KICK IN: Drugmakers pony up new fees, starting at $2.7 billion. Insurance and medical-device providers follow in 2013.
2013
- TAXES: Medicare payroll taxes increase - from a rate of 1.45% to 2.35% - for singles earning more than $200,000 a year and families above $250,000.
2014
This is when all Americans will feel the bill's impact - in their wallets, if not elsewhere.
- INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: Almost everyone will be required to get insurance or face a fine - $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015 and $695 in 2016 (with a maximum of $2,250 for a family). There is an exemption for low-income people.
- EMPLOYER MANDATE: Businesses with 50 or more employees must offer insurance or pay a $2,000-per-worker penalty.
- HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES: These new state-based marketplaces should be open for business, giving individuals and small businesses a place to shop for affordable insurance .
- SUBSIDIES: To help pay for insurance, the feds will offer subsidies to families making as much as $88,000 a year. Out-of-pocket spending will be tied to a person's income and kept as low as $1,000.
2018
- TAX ON HIGH-COST HEALTH PLANS: A 40% excise tax will be slapped on high-cost "Cadillac" plans starting in 2018.
2020
- Benefits that began to close Medicare's "doughnut hole" for prescription drugs in 2010 will finally complete the job in 2020.
- SMALL BUSINESSES: Tax credits start flowing to businesses with fewer than 50 employees, covering 35% of premiums, to help them afford coverage. By 2014, that will rise to 50%.
- SENIORS: They get a $250 rebate to help fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug coverage.
- YOUNG ADULTS: Health insurers are required to let young people stay on their parents' policy up to their 27th birthday.
- PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: Insurers will be barred from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Adults will have to wait until 2014 for the same protection. But high-risk pools will offer an option for affordable coverage until then.
- NO LIMITS ON COVERAGE: Insurers can't place lifetime caps on benefits any longer.
- PREVENTIVE CARE: New private plans will have to cover checkups and other preventive services with no co-pays. By 2018, all plans must comply.
2011
- HEALTH CARE COMPANIES KICK IN: Drugmakers pony up new fees, starting at $2.7 billion. Insurance and medical-device providers follow in 2013.
2013
- TAXES: Medicare payroll taxes increase - from a rate of 1.45% to 2.35% - for singles earning more than $200,000 a year and families above $250,000.
2014
This is when all Americans will feel the bill's impact - in their wallets, if not elsewhere.
- INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: Almost everyone will be required to get insurance or face a fine - $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015 and $695 in 2016 (with a maximum of $2,250 for a family). There is an exemption for low-income people.
- EMPLOYER MANDATE: Businesses with 50 or more employees must offer insurance or pay a $2,000-per-worker penalty.
- HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES: These new state-based marketplaces should be open for business, giving individuals and small businesses a place to shop for affordable insurance .
- SUBSIDIES: To help pay for insurance, the feds will offer subsidies to families making as much as $88,000 a year. Out-of-pocket spending will be tied to a person's income and kept as low as $1,000.
2018
- TAX ON HIGH-COST HEALTH PLANS: A 40% excise tax will be slapped on high-cost "Cadillac" plans starting in 2018.
2020
- Benefits that began to close Medicare's "doughnut hole" for prescription drugs in 2010 will finally complete the job in 2020.
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