New Tools to Help Employers Educate their Employees About Health Care Reform Law
[INDIANAPOLIS, IN.], June 6, 2013 – The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is complicated, and understanding an employee’s responsibility to purchase coverage under the new law (the individual mandate), is no exception. Today, United Benefit Advisors (UBA) releases a guide to help employers educate their employees on the law and navigate the options available to them, particularly in regard to health insurance exchanges. Since employee options are based on employer plan design, UBA’s guide includes a general overview and two different supplements based on whether or not the employer will offer “minimum essential” coverage.
The Employee Guide overview defines health care reform, the intent of PPACA, employee requirements, penalties and obligations, and takes a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of choosing a health insurance exchange over an employer sponsored plan.
Employee eligibility for tax credits through the exchanges is dependent on the employer’s decisions about plan design. UBA offers two supplements (A and B) to address whether the coverage provided by the employer will satisfy the “minimum essential” requirement and to begin to educate on how the plan and the exchange will interact.
Supplement A is for those whose employer expects to offer affordable, minimum value coverage, but may choose to enroll in the exchange instead and thus forgo their eligibility for tax credits/premium subsidies.
Supplement B is for those whose employer expects to offer coverage that does not meet affordability or minimum value, so eligibility for tax credits/premium subsidies (and reduced cost sharing) thus becomes an area of interest.
“We recognize there are many situations that this guide and supplements do not cover,” says Thom Mangan, CEO of UBA. “However, most employers should be able to mix and match the information to address most situations. Of course, working with a knowledgeable UBA Partner is always recommended for the best and most accurate information in every unique situation.”
The PPACA Employee Guide is available at http://tinyurl.com/lj7wusn
UBA’s PPACA Resource Center includes up-to-date information on a number of elements, including: Counting Employees, Exchange eligibility/IRS Non-calendar-year plans, Wellness Proposed Rules, FSA and SBC Highlights, W-2 Reporting Requirements, Medicare Withholding Summary, Essential Benefits/Actuarial Value and more.
The resource center can be found on UBA’s website. In addition to the PPACA Resource Center, UBA provides customized benchmarking data to help businesses compare their employee health
benefits to competitors, and potentially find savings through plan design. UBA’s 2012 Health Plan Survey, the largest in the nation with nearly 12,000 employers participating, along with the collective wisdom of its 140 industry-leading partner firms, helps business owners and human resource executives make informed decisions that directly impact the bottom line by controlling the upward spiral of health care costs.
About United Benefit Advisors
United Benefit Advisors is the nation’s leading independent employee benefits organization with more than 200 offices throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Visit www.UBAbenefits.com.