Health Care Reform-Great News for Small Businesses

“After almost a century of trying; over a year of debate; after all the votes have been tallied –health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America”, said the President Obama yesterday, after signing the health reform into law. Things are finally going to change quite a bit between Americans and their health insurance companies. With this law American citizens and small businesses will have their own health care under control.

It is announced that it would take four weeks to fully implement these reforms, since the implementation must be done responsibly. However, host of desperately needed reforms will take effect right away.

This year about 4 million small businessman and woman will be able to receive tax credits to help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. The President said that once this reform was implemented, health insurance exchanges would be created, a competitive marketplace where uninsured people and small businesses would finally be able to purchase affordable, quality insurance

This law is something that most of small business owners were waiting and needing for a long time. Therefore, let’s see how will this legislation influence on small businesses, their owners and their employees.

1.  First of all, you should know that you won’t be required to provide health insurance to your employees, but if you choose to, new tax credits will make covering your employees more affordable. You will also have access to a new insurance exchange to find the best deal, and the entire process will be simpler.

2. Today, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy.  The independent and non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that with health insurance reform, premiums for small businesses will go down. In addition, you will be protected from sudden, arbitrary rate hikes because a worker get sick;  because insurance companies will no longer be permitted to base the cost of coverage on health status.

3. The President’s proposal bill gives small business owners the leverage that big businesses enjoy by allowing them to buy coverage through the exchange.  This gives them greater buying power in the market place and spreads the cost of coverage  across a much larger pool – both of which help to hold down premiums.

4. Now, if the business owner cannot afford to provide coverage, employees will be able to buy it. Employees at small businesses that don’t offer coverage can get tax credits to purchase coverage. This way there are two options for employers and their employees, both possibilities provide the health care for the workers.

5. If you are a business owner, you should know that, if you choose to provide health insurance for you employees, your business taxes will not go up. Instead, you may be eligible for new tax credits to help offset the cost of covering your employees.

6. The confusing forms will be simplified. Health reform will require plans to use clear and plain language on insurance forms so that you can easily understand what benefits and what doctors are covered in your plan. And, it will standardize forms to reduce the confusing and overwhelming paperwork that all Americans have to confront today.

7. Reform will provide at least three tangible benefits that will make it easier and cheaper for small businesses to provide coverage: First, by allowing small businesses to buy coverage through an insurance exchange—the marketplace where you can shop for health insurance—small businesses will get the benefit of pooling together their employees with millions of others, which will lower their own exposure, lower risk and ultimately lower costs. Second, operating through an exchange will reduce administrative costs for small businesses and their employees by enabling them to easily and simply compare the prices, benefits, and quality of health plans. Third, many small businesses will be able to get a tax credit to help cover the cost of the coverage they offer.