Health Insurance Deadlines

The Affordable Care Act more commonly called Obama care has some changes kicking effective October 1^st that impact both individuals and businesses.

Individuals:

If you have health insurance through an employer the changes will most likely not have any impact on you. However, if you do not have health insurance through an employer, you should check the new government website www.healthcare.gov to determine if one of the insurance exchanges will benefit you.

Business Owners:

If you are a business owner, Obama care requires that you provide notice to your existing employees about the health insurance changes that become effective by October 1^st.  This applies to all future employees upon their employment. The law will apply to your business if you have at least one employee and at least $500,000 in annual revenue. You will be required to provide the notice to all employees.

Here is a model notice for employers who offer a health plan to some or all employees:

http://templatelab.com/FLSA-with-plans/

Here is a model notice for employers who do not offer a health plan

http://templatelab.com/FLSA-with-plans/

Here is the Department of Labor website link if you need more information:

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform/

For individuals, it is important not to miss the open enrollment dates from October 15^th to December 7^th. I wanted you to be aware of these deadlines and will post more information next week.