Pub. 1 Issue 2

15 SUMMER 2013 to pay the penalty if any of their employees go to an exchange and get a premium tax credit there. • Pre-existing conditions have to be removed from all health-care coverage. • Wellness incentives are to increase up to 30 percent. For employees who quit smoking, the incentive can be as high as 50 percent. • Waiting periods cannot be longer than 90 days. • For fully insured plans, companies will have to either pay or budget for an Insurer’s Fee, which will be between 2.0 and 2.5 percent of the cost of a premium. • It’s likely that in 2015, there will be a two- year Transitional Reinsurance tax that will be assessed on a temporary basis in order to stabilize premiums being sold on an individual basis. Insurance companies are the ones that will have to pay it, and it will be assessed on fully insured plans or on self-insured plans being run by a third-party administrator. Estimates for the cost run to about $63 for any employee who is being covered. The government is capping the amount of in- surance coverage that can be provided. Fittingly named the Cadillac Tax, and scheduled for 2018, the idea is that if insurance is exceptionally gener- ous —more than a specific dollar amount — then it will be assessed a 40 percent excise tax. Fully insured plans will need to go through nondiscrimination testing. This won’t be en- forced until the government provides guidance and an effective date, neither of which has been provided yet. Health plans will have to include automatic enrollment. Again, no one will have to comply with this until the rules are settled for it, and that hasn’t happened yet. As healthcare reform continues to unfold, it is going to be increasingly important to consult with experts so that businesses can avoid penalties and legal problems. Navigating all the rules is going to be hard enough even with professional help; trying to comply without any help at all is simply not wise. An expert can help busi- ness owners navigate the deli- cate task of deciding what needs to be done now and what can wait for the future. Since so much of what is be- ing done is in development and lacks specifics, that becomes evenmore critical. No one wants to waste any time dealing with the consequences of noncom- pliance. The best thing any business owner can do is to comply as promptly as pos- sible with what has already been determined, prepare plans for future requirements, and stay alert for the changes to all of this that will inevitably come. It’s not a small order, especially with the changes at the beginning of July, but it is certainly the right time to delegate so that the focus stays where it ought to be: on the day-to-day issues of doing busi- ness for the long run.  An expert can help business owners navigate the delicate task of deciding what needs to be done now and what can wait for the future. Since so much of what is being done is in development and lacks specifics, that becomes even more critical.