Facts About Obamacare Small Business Health Insurance Requirements

By Jeannie Monette


The Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, was signed into law by the President in 2010. This new law created many changes with the way that Americans receive coverage from their employers. Many of these changes also affect small business owners. If you fall into this category, you may want to research the various obamacare small business health insurance requirements.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, sets our requirements for companies and how they should cover their staff. There are also obligations placed on small companies with less than fifty employees. If you manage your own company, you must be aware of these obligations.

This opportunity has been given because smaller companies paid more on average for coverage than larger businesses. To be eligible for this program, a company must offer coverage to each of its full-time employees, and at least seventy percent of those employees must be enrolled in the plan. In addition, the company must have an office within the region of a particular SHOP provider.

The employee must also be informed that they might forfeit their employer contributions for health coverage if they choose to buy the coverage through the new market. Employers must provide their employees with a Summary of Benefits to explain what the plan covers and how much it costs.

It is hoped that, with this information, employees should be able to gain a better understanding of the system of coverage going forward. This may help them to properly weigh their options and choose the best method of coverage for themselves and their families when buying health insurance. The Department of Labor offers additional information regarding the Summary of Benefits disclosure.

It is also important to note that Medicare will also be affected by the Affordable Care Act, as there will be additional Medicare withholding taxes on wages. The portion of the hospital insurance tax which is payable by the employee under Medicare has increased from 1.45 percent to 2.35 percent. This affects those employees earning more than $200,000. This tax increase only affects the employees, as the portion paid by the employer remains at 1.45 percent.

Another goal of the ACA is to ensure that insurance companies spend money on medical care instead of administrative costs. Therefore, it provides rebates to any insurance company that spends less than 20 percent of its premium dollars on administrative costs.




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