You may know it as Obamacare, and it’s very controversial.
The new law will impact employers dramatically.
For instance, a company with 200 or more employers will have until January 1, 2017 to decide whether they are going to continue to provide health benefits to their employees or not.
What we are already seeing is some major national businesses, dropping employees down to 30 hours per week so they don’t have to provide benefits.
Small businesses, 25 employees or less, have a fast approaching date of January 1, 2014. At that point, they can be eligible for federal subsidies and qualify for up to 50% federal reimbursement toward individual insurance expenditures.
In the long run, some believe the Affordable Care Act will lower insurance premiums and consumers will be more compliant.
“Premiums are going to start to come down as there are more and more sources for the poor to get insurance,” said St. Joseph Regional Medical Center President and CEO Al Gutierrez. “Remember, the premiums that are driven in insurance today are very high because it covers a large portion of the country that is uninsured. With more Americans insured, there will be less and less of a burden for the marketplace to be held by insured individuals. So, pricing is going to come down dramatically, and the efficiencies of the insurance companies is going to get much better, too.”
There are some very sophisticated formulas companies will be working with to determine the health care avenue they take.
