Employee Benefits in 2019
The health insurance industry has seen substantial changes in the last decade due in large part to the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Otherwise known as ACA or Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and has since been scaled back by the Trump administration.
With so much change—change that will inevitably continue into 2019—many small business owners have become confused as to what is actually required of them, so we decided to answer some of the most frequently asked questions that we hear from our clients.
Does my business have to offer health insurance?
Legally speaking, businesses with less than 50 full-time employees are not required to offer health insurance coverage. Most small businesses fall in this category, but if you are a growing company and you find yourself close to that 50-mark, then you will want to double-check your status.
Employers who had 50 or more full-time employees for at least 6 months of 2017 are considered applicable large employers (ALEs) under the law and are legally required to provide minimum essential coverage (MEC) to a certain percentage of their full-time employees.
Should my small business offer health insurance?
At this point, you might be thinking . . . didn’t you just answer that question? Well, the answer is—not quite. While small businesses are not legally required to offer health insurance (as we discussed above), many still do, and here’s why.
Health insurance is highly-valued by employees. According to an article in The Harvard Business Review, 88% of employees indicated that they would give some or heavy consideration to a lower-paying job if it offered better health, dental, and vision insurance. That’s a significant number!
So if you are looking to recruit and retain high quality employees, offering health insurance with your employee benefits plan is a great place to start. You can also check out the Harvard Business Review’s article for additional benefits to consider if you want to improve retention and attract new talent.
How do I start offering health insurance?
We’re glad you asked! If you’re a small business in northeast Indiana, PHP has taken the guesswork out of finding the health insurance plan that’s right for you with our easy to use Plan Finder.
By answering only a handful of questions, our Plan Finder can match you with a suited plan for you—whether that’s Small Group HMO Options Plans for the budget-conscious or Small Group POS Prime Plans for the business owner that wants unlimited options.
And don’t let names like “HMO Options Plans” and “POS Prime Plans” scare you. The important thing is that our Plan Finder will determine which one might work best for you, so that you don’t have to worry about the full list of options available.
Once you have your results, you’ll be equipped to start a conversation with our customer service or sales teams. Our office is located right here in Fort Wayne, so you don’t have to worry about robot recordings and automated machines. We are real people—here to help you!
Are there any tax credits available?
One benefit introduced with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act is the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. The IRS offers the following requirements for businesses hoping to receive this tax credit:
- Have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees,
- pay an average wage of less than $51,600 a year,
- and pay at least half of employee health insurance premiums
If you meet this criteria, visit the IRS’ website for full details and requirements and to download the proper tax form: Form 8941.
What other rules should I know about?
If you have decided to offer PHP health insurance to your employees, you will be required to provide each of your employees with a standard Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) form. PHP will help you with this as well as any other federal requirements regarding your health insurance plan. The SBC form explains to your employees what their health insurance covers so that they can be fully informed.
You will also be required to report the value of the health insurance coverage you provided to each employee on his or her Form W-2, box 12 using code DD.
PHP will be right there to help you navigate the entire process with helpful reminders, prompt customer service, and an employer portal set-up just for you with all of the information that you need. When you purchase a small business health insurance plan with PHP, you don’t just get a product—you get a whole team working on your behalf to help you navigate the health insurance world. All you have to do is make the decision to get started, and we help you do the rest!
