The Affordable Care Act Marketplace opens October first. Individuals who do not have health insurance will need to choose a provider by January 1, 2014 or face a penalty.
Peoria Public Radio’s Tanya Koonce reports it also has implications for employers.
Small business, with 50 or fewer full-time employees, will not have to comply with the law until 2015. According to the small business administration 96 percent of all U-S firms meet that category.
Ross Miller is with Bradley University’s Turner Center for Entrepreneurship. He says even though it’s more than a year away, now is the time for small business owners to get informed. “Now’s the time to start pulling all your professionals, your C.P.A., your attorney, to kind of go over all of this with you to help you make a better decision about it.”
Miller says the reporting period for small businesses can start January 1, 2014. He says there’s a mandatory self defined three month reporting period to assess each business’s employee head count.
Miller says businesses with 25 or fewer employees currently qualify for tax credits for a percentage of the employee premiums the business pays.
HEALTHCARE LAW ONLINE RESOURCES
Source: Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service. Publication 5093
INDIVIDUALS & FAMILIES
Healthcare Coverage through the Marketplace www.Healthcare.gov
Health Coverage and Your Taxes www.IRS.gov/aca
Consumer Assistance for Employees www.Askebsa.dol.gov
EMPLOYERS:
Health Insurance Information www.Healthcare.gov
Tax Benefits and Responsibilities www.IRS.gov/aca
Small Business Resources www.SBA.gov/healthcare
Legal Guidance - Labor Provisions www.Dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform
US Govt. Business Portal www.Business.USA.gov