It was imagined that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) would be a political layup last November. Fast forward nearly six months, and there was no vote in Congress on rescinding the Act because it was forecasted that the new law would not pass the House of Representatives and would be dead on arrival in the Senate. All of this with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress.
With the ACA going nowhere, employers who have 50 or more employers must continue to adhere to federal law. This means that they must offer minimum health care coverage plans that are affordable to full time employees and their families. Should such coverage not be available or offered, the employer could be subject to a shared responsibility payment.
So what can an employer do to effectively plan for next year’s tax season and stay compliant with the law? This post will identify a couple options.
Poll employees – While it may be part of good management protocols to understand what employees want and their difficulties may be in securing medical coverage, employers should also know whether a particular coverage package would be helpful to employees in light of the costs to the company. After all, some employees will look for a new employer if the health care plan is good enough.
Keep shopping – Just like providers in your industry, you should know that health care providers need your business. So you should act like a savvy consumer, and should shop around to be certain that the health care package you choose best fits your employees’ needs as well as your bottom line.