2010 Health Care Reform
Below is a summary of the Health Care Reform Act items affecting you and your business in 2010:
- Small business owners may receive tax credits for health insurance premiums paid in 2010. The business must pay at least 50% of the employees’ premium to qualify and must have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees with average annual earnings less than $50,000. The maximum credit is up to 35% of premium costs. However, the credit begins to “phase out” for businesses that have greater than 9 full-time employees with average earnings greater than $25,000. In addition, premium amounts are capped at the amount the employer would have paid for coverage under the small group market in the State. The maximum credit increases to 50% in 2014.
- The uninsured (due to pre-existing conditions) receive immediate access to health coverage through high-risk pools. Children can remain on parents’ plans until the age of 26.
- Insurers are barred from removing coverage when a person gets sick, denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, and imposing lifetime coverage caps.
- Medicare prescriptins drug beneficiaries will receive a $250 rebate when they hit the gap in drug coverage (between $2,700 and $6,154).
