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Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category
Monday, May 20th, 2019
Prairie Business reports:
“Yes! Student loan debt is one of the most difficult financial issues facing new grads. Rising costs of tuition/education can make it hard for new grads to get a start in life – whether it be buying their first home, purchasing a new vehicle or affording other key items or investments.
(more…)
Tags: employees, Hanover Park, Harwood Heights, health, human resources, Kane, Kane County, Northern Illinois, retirement, student loan debt, unemployment, workplace
Posted in Small Business | Comments Off on Should companies begin offering student-loan help to employees?
Friday, February 2nd, 2018
The Tax Advisor reports:
“The IRS recently issued Notice 2017-67 to provide guidance on “qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements” (qualified small employer HRAs) under Sec. 9831(d). Qualified small employer HRAs enable an eligible employer to reimburse employees for medical expenses, such as health insurance premiums, as defined under Sec. 213(d). Qualified small employer HRAs are solely employer-funded; employees cannot contribute to them. Payments from a qualified small employer HRA to an employee are not includible in the employee’s income, as long as the employee has obtained qualifying health insurance. An employer can establish a qualified small employer HRA for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2016. The guidance within Notice 2017-67 is effective for arrangement plan years beginning on or after Nov. 20, 2017.
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Tags: ACA requirements, Affordable Care Act, group health plans, health insurance coverage, health savings account, requirements, Skokie, Sleepy Hollow, small businesses, small group, Solon Mills, South Barrington, South Elgin, special enrollment, Spring Grove, Sugar Grove, Tax
Posted in Small Business | Comments Off on Health reimbursement arrangements for small employers
Monday, January 11th, 2016
Crain’s Chicago Business Reports:
 “Aetna is returning to sell plans on the Illinois health insurance exchange after taking a year off.
Also returning are giants Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, the dominant insurer in the state; UnitedHealthcare, which is affiliated with Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group, and Chicago-based Land of Lincoln Health.
Mostly familiar faces are returning to the exchange for enrollment that begins Nov. 1, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance. Other companies that received federal approval to sell plans include:
—Health Alliance, based in downstate Urbana.
—Celtic Insurance, which is part of St. Louis-based Centene Corp.
—Coventry Health, part of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna.
—Harken Health, of which UnitedHealth Group is an investor.
—Humana, based in Louisville, Ky.
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Tags: 2015, 2016, ACA, ACA requirements, Advocate Heath Care, affordable care, Affordable Care Act, affordable health insurance, Albany Park, Algonquin, Andersonville, Atena, aurora, Barrington, Bartlett, BCBS, BCBSIL, Blue Cross, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Bucktown, buffalo grove, Burlington, buy health insurance, buying insurance, care reform legislation, Carol Stream, Carpentersville, Chicago, Chicagoland, Cook, Cook County, coverage plan, Crystal Lake, DeKalb, DeKalb County, departments of health and human services, Dundee, DuPage County, Elgin, employer health insurance, enrollment, exchange, Forest Park, Fox River Grove, Fox Valley, Glenview, government regulations, group health plan, Harwood Heights, Health and Human Services, health care benefits, health care costs, health care law, health care reform, health care system, health exemption, health insurance, health insurance costs, health insurance coverage, Health insurance exchange, health insurance marketplace, health insurance premiums, health insurance reform, health plan, health savings account, healthcare reform, healthcare.gov, Humana, Huntley, IL, Illinois, Illinois Department of Insurance, Illinois health insurance exchange, Insurance benefit consultant, insurance broker, insurance industry, IRS, Kane, Kane County, Kendall, Lake County, Lake in the Hills, Lake View, Long Grove, Marengo, Marketplace, McCullen Lake, McHenry, McHenry County, Naperville, North Barrington, North West Suburbs, Northern Illinois, Northwest Suburbs, Oakwood Hills, Obama care, ObamaCare, Obamacare regulation, Palatine, Park Ridge, Pingree Grove, Prairie Grove, Ringwood, Rolling Meadows, Saint Charles, Schaumburg, Skokie, small businesses, South Barrington, South Elgin, the affordable care act, United Health Care, United Healthcare, UnitedHealthcare, Village of Lakewood, Wasco, West Chicago, West Dundee, Wicker Park, Will, Will County, Wood Dale, Woodridge, Woodstock
Posted in Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance News, Small Business | Comments Off on Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare return to Illinois Obamacare exchange
Friday, February 27th, 2015
Generally, under Employer Shared Responsibility (ESR), applicable large employers (generally, employers with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents) face a potential
penalty if they don’t offer minimum essential coverage to full-time employees and their child dependents that has both minimum value (company is paying at least 60 percent of covered health care expenses for a typical population) and is affordable (full-time employees cannot pay more than 9.5 percent of their income for the lowest-cost, self-only coverage). Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees are not subject to ACA’s ESR provisions. For 2015, employers with between 50 and 99 full-time employees are exempt from the ESR penalty if the employer provides an appropriate certification and meets certain conditions.
In 2015, employers subject to the mandate must offer coverage to 70 percent of their full-time employees and child dependents or risk penalties for failure to offer coverage to all full-time employees and child dependents. To avoid a penalty in 2016, employers subject to ACA’s ESR provisions must offer coverage to 95 percent of their full-time employees and child dependents.
Tags: ACA, Carol Stream, Carpend, Carpentersville, Cary, Chicago, Chicagoland, Cicero, Cook, Cook County, cortland, Crystal Lake, Darien, employees, Employers, Minimum Essential Coverage, Penalty
Posted in Affordable Care Act, Small Business | Comments Off on Employer Shared Responsibility
Wednesday, December 17th, 2014
Benefits Pro reports:
“The evidence continues to mount that mid-to-large corporations will fine-tune, but won’t abandon, employee health plans.
A Towers Watson survey of 379 companies in that size range found, among other trends, that companies believe in providing health coverage, but want to be able to predict the cost of coverage.
To accomplish both, they are gradually shifting some costs to employees, eliminating some benefits, such as spousal coverage, and encouraging their workers to take more ownership of their health coverage to share in the economic risk of providing coverage.
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Tags: Campton Hills, Carol Stream, Carpend, Cary, Chicago, Chicagoland, Cicero, Cook County, Crystal Lake, employees, Employers, health insurance, private exchange, public exchange
Posted in Affordable Care Act, Small Business | Comments Off on Employers reducing spousal, family coverage
Wednesday, December 17th, 2014
Health Insurance Exchange reports:
“On November 6, the Department of Labor issued FAQ Part 22, which directly addresses some recent efforts by employers to reimburse employees for participation in the exchange through Code Section 105, or through some type of other arrangement. Here are the questions, with shortened answers.
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Tags: Bannockburn, Barrington, Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Batavia, Bensenville, Berwyn, Big Rock, Boulder Hill, buffalo grove, Bull Valley, Burlington, Employers, enrollment, individual health insurance, Marketplace, Tax, the affordable care act
Posted in Health Insurance Cost, Heath Care Costs, Small Business | Comments Off on Why Can’t Employers Pay For Employees To Go To The Exchanges?
Friday, October 17th, 2014
San Jose Mercury News reports:
“When Monty Hagler learned his employee insurance premiums could rise as much as 38 percent, the small business owner decided he couldn’t afford coverage that complies with the health care overhaul.
He considered a variety of plans from different carriers, but they were too expensive or bare-bones.
“Unless we dramatically changed our plan and went with the most basic plan, I said, ‘this is not sustainable,'” says Hagler, owner of RLF Communications, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based marketing company.
(more…)
Tags: Consultant, Evanston, Fox River Grove, Fox Valley, Franklin Park, Government, Health insurance exchange, open enrollment, premiums, small businesses, small group
Posted in Insurance Reform, Small Business | Comments Off on Small businesses helping workers buy health plans
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