New Obama Health Care Bill Explained 2010

New Obama Health Care Bill Explained 2010
Barran Liebman LLP
Oregon Law Firm,

3/22/2010- In what is being called a landmark move, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Senate’s health care bill along with a budget reconciliation bill containing several important changes on Sunday night. The Senate’s bill will now progress to the President for signature while the Reconciliation Bill will move to the Senate for vote. The Senate has assured the House that it plans to approve this bill, so we expect these bills to be the final word on health care (for the moment at least).

We’ll be conducting a seminar on April 13 to address the specifics of the new health law, but a brief summary of the key issues for employers follows. Each of these points includes the Reconciliation Bill changes, and each relevant effective date is noted in parentheses.

•    Employers will not be required to provide health coverage, but employers with 50 or more full-time employees may be subject to penalty payments if their employees use federal subsidies to buy insurance (2014)

•    Employers offering health insurance will be required to provide vouchers to certain low-income employees to assist those employees in buying health coverage through an insurance exchange (2014)

•    Small employers may qualify for tax credits covering part or all of their health insurance premium costs (2010)

•    Subsidies will be available to offset some of the cost of retiree coverage offered by employers (2010)

•    All insurance plans, including employer-sponsored plans, will be required to cover children of policy holders. (Within six months.) Dependent care coverage is also extended to children through the age of 26; however, this extension will only apply to those children who cannot obtain coverage from an employer until 2014

•    Certain higher-cost plans will be subject to a 40 percent excise tax (2018)

•    Medicare payroll taxes for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000 will be increased (2013)

•    Contributions to flexible spending accounts will be limited to $2,500 a year (2013)

For a more detailed discussion of these issues and how they could impact your company, please join us for a breakfast seminar on April 13, 2010. Additionally, please visit www.barran.com for supplemental materials on this issue.

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