Keeping costs down is a good financial strategy for any small business, but many may want to consider in-house healthcare services to qualify for certain tax cuts and avoid paying penalties for not offering the option. Reviewing costs and benefits would be a good idea before deciding which direction to go with your financial plan.
New reforms
President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act last year, furthering the cause of healthcare availability for all, but also creating a new liability for businesses. Even though the law has now been on the books for over a year, the timetable established with the signing gives businesses until 2014 to get their HR and payrolls up to speed.
Employers are expected to extend workers over 50 years of age some form of benefits package. That doesn't mean only older worker get health packages; once a business has 51 workers the company is required to either offer a job-backed health plan or pay a fine of $2,000 per uninsured worker. There are some programs that provide businesses the option of paying into a system that lets workers choose their own insurance using funds specified by their employer. This can be a cost-saving measure for small businesses that don't want to burden payroll or accounting officers with extra work and don't want to hire another set of hands to assist with the financial calculating.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has an interactive website illustrating the entire course of expected events and gives more information about how and when changes should be complete. If you need business banking help to roll over new payment schedules, seek out financial advice now before a potential time crunch might leave you in the lurch.
Benefit of benefits
It may seem best to allow employees to seek their own healthcare plans for businesses below the 50-employee-line, but adding more stress may wind up harming your productivity. A Gallup poll found that stress can really hurt the well-being of individuals both on the job and off, meaning every little bit can add up to a big employee investment. Banking ROI means planning for the future health of the business, which should always include the manpower used to keep it functioning.