Are you having trouble knowing how to prepare for new health care rules and penalties set to take effect next year? By answering these questions, you can get a good picture of where you stand and what strategies to consider. This decision tree should be used in conjunction with professional insurance, legal and tax services to see how the rules apply to your situation.
Remember even if you have separate companies, all companies that are under the ownership and control of a single entity are considered as one organization for the purposes of the new health care coverage requirements.
Number of Employees Calculation
For purposes of defining a full-time employee, Obamacare defines a full-time employee as anyone who is employed an average of at least 30 hours per week (130 hours per month). Employers may determine current employees’ full-time status by looking back at a standard measurement period of not less than three but not more than twelve consecutive months.
Part-time employees’ hours will be converted into full-time equivalent (FTE) employees for the purpose of determining a company’s compliance requirements status. Conversion is done by adding up all of the hours worked by employees who are not full-time employees and dividing the total by 120. For example, if six part-time employees each work five hours per week, they will count as if the firm has one additional FTE employee.
Answer the Following Key Questions to Decide How Obamacare Will Impact Your Company
1. Do you have 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees? Do you have more than 100 employees?
2. Do you operate in a state that is setting up a state exchange?
3. Do you offer adequate coverage?
4. What do you anticipate your penalty would be for not offering coverage?
5. What do you anticipate would be your cost for offering employees coverage?
6. What percentage of employees would take health insurance if it was offered and the company covered part of the cost? This could be influenced by the general attitude of employees as well as their true legal work status. They might rather spend that money on other pleasures instead of insurance. And they may be concerned about legal problems if they turn out to actually be illegal aliens working under false pretenses.
7. How does your current health care plan compare to the minimum coverage requirements established by Obamacare?
