Understanding New Healthcare Responsibilities

Two federal government websites have been created to help business owners and individuals find answers to some of their questions.

In an effort to “listen to the needs of the business community,” the White House established a software wizard, which is part of its BusinessUSA website. The purpose is to help employers understand various facets of the Affordable Care Act. The tool provides some guidance about responsibilities based on the state a business is located in, the number of employees it has and other information.

For example, if you tell the wizard a business is located in Illinois and has more than 50 full-time employees, it will ask questions including:

• Whether the business already offers health coverage and plans to continue offering it; or
• Does not offer insurance and is not planning to start.

The wizard then provides links to federal government web pages of information about the penalty, how to calculate the number of employees, a glossary of healthcare reform terms and more. In some cases, it links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

While the software wizard may help answer some of your questions, much of the language is vague and confusing. It is not a substitute for an employer getting professional advice about its responsibilities under the healthcare law.

The IRS also launched a website called the Health Insurance Marketplace to educate individuals and businesses on how the healthcare law may affect them. The home page has three sections, which explain the tax benefits and responsibilities for individuals,  families, employers, and other organizations — with links and information for each group. The site provides information about tax provisions that are in effect now and those that will go into effect in the future.

Topics include premium tax credits for individuals, new benefits and responsibilities for employers, and tax provisions for insurers, tax-exempt organizations and others.

As with the software wizard described above, the Health Insurance Marketplace may help answer some of your questions, but it has limitations, and does not replace the advice of trained professionals.

For more information about your situation, you can also visit Healthcare.gov.