With the Affordable Care Act, changes to health insurance coverage and how those programs work go into effect, come January 1st, 2014. As a small business owner, it is worth your time to explore your available options and understand what your rights and responsibilities are under the new laws. For example, in California, a small business owner with less than 50 employees does not have to offer health insurance. However, the business will be unable to take advantage of special tax credits and incentives. In order to make insurance more affordable for business operations with fewer than 50 employees, there is going to be a new marketplace of insurance options and plans. The new marketplace acts like a larger group plan, where there might be numerous small businesses, all participating in the same plan. As a result, health insurance premiums are going to be much less than they are today.
On the other hand, if you own and operate a small business with 50 or more full time employees, you need to provide health insurance coverage. There will be an employer-shared responsibility payment, in the event at least one of your employees is able to find lower costs on their insurance premiums through one of the government sponsored plans. Starting in 2015, employers offering plans that are considered expensive, and which do not meet the recommended guidelines, could be subject to making payments to the federal government. To avoid this, you need to make sure the plan you supply your employees is affordable and satisfies the 10 essential health benefits.