A large percentage of retail workers, especially those working part-time, do not have any health insurance.  No matter what your political thoughts on this subject, hopefully we all agree that in an ideal world everyone should have access to good health care. Our businesses perform better when our employees are not sick (or spreading illness), and our customers are more likely to spend money in our shops if they are not stressed by poor health or unpaid medical bills.  And it is important for the stability and future of every business that the owner/s are healthy as well — and you would be surprised at how many small-business owners don’t have any health insurance coverage for themselves.

October 1, 2013 marked the start of the Insurance Exchange program, and after years of conflicting information and ideas, it is now time to make sure that you know about our country’s new health insurance policy.  Every state is handling the program slightly differently, but I hope that the summary and links below will be helpful.

Rest assured that if you are a small business (with less than 50 full-time employees), you will not be required to offer health insurance to your employees.  However you are allowed to shop for health coverage in the government’s new Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace.  Here is an excellent summary of what SHOP means to you, from the FindLaw blog.

In the SHOP Marketplace, small business owners can:

• Control the coverage you offer and how much you pay toward employee premiums before having your employees enroll in the plan (or plans). Employers can choose to have one plan for their entire company, or select several plans from which their employees can choose, according to The Washington Post.

• Compare health plans online in one place (think Priceline for health insurance), which can help give you a better idea of what your options are.

• Potentially qualify for a small business health care tax credit worth up to 50 percent of your premium costs (up to 35 percent for tax-exempt employers). You can still deduct from your taxes the rest of your premium costs not covered by the tax credit. Beginning in 2014, the tax credit will be available only for plans purchased through SHOP.

It is important that you know that you are required to provide each current part-time or full-time employee a written notice with information about the SHOP Marketplace/Health Insurance Exchange by October 1. If you already offer a health plan, this form may apply to you. More information is available at Healthcare.gov.

Although the notification date is this week (September, 2013), the new plans don’t take effect until January 1, 2014, so the signup deadline is set at December 15.  The purpose of the notification is to let everyone know about the program, especially those who will be shopping around for private insurance.  This article from NPR and this one from The New York Times sum up the process nicely.  In short, anyone who does not already have insurance, or who is buying insurance privately, will have new options available in 2014 (including some potential government subsidies).

The law surrounding the “Obamacare” bill has changed many times, so it’s possible that there may still be alterations. But in order to be in compliance with the rules as they stand today, make sure that your employees get the Health Insurance Exchange notification right away.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder