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Monday, November 25, 2013
Party Time!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Uncomplicating The Healthcare Reform Issue
Healthcare Reform is a complicated issue. This diagram was prepared by the Joint
Economic Committee, and shows just how much consideration had to go into
developing a plan.
Fortunately, they made room for Physicians in the bottom left and Patients in the bottom
right. That they’re not directly connected might be a slight oversight.
There are four key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, typically
referred to as the ACA, that will affect most people: Exchanges, Subsidies, GuaranteedInsurability, and Individual Coverage Mandates.
Exchanges (also referred to as The Marketplace) are a place where people can go to
compare health insurance plans and premiums. In Oregon, it’s called Cover Oregon,and in Washington, it’s called the Washington Healthplan Finder. As much as possible,
it’s an apples-to-apples comparison. Carriers now have to design their plans based on
Metal Tiers. You may see Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels of benefits, although
carriers aren’t required to offer benefits within every tier. And with some minor variation,
a Gold Plan is a Gold Plan no matter which carrier you use. One critical issue now will
be the Provider Network. This will be the easiest way for carriers to affect their rates. So
expect carriers to tighten up their networks, and cut out expensive provider groups.
The primary reason that one would use an Exchange rather than going directly to a
carrier, is the subsidy.
Subsidies are determined by your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). If your
MAGI is below 400% of the poverty level, you may qualify for a subsidy. The subsidycan be used to reduce your premium, or as a tax credit when you file. There are subsidy
calculators available on the websites for all of the Exchanges. There’s also anindependent subsidy calculator created by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
As of January 1st, there is Guaranteed Insurability for everyone. Carriers can no
longer decline coverage to an individual based on previous or current medical issues.This is critically important for a lot of people. Carriers will have to allow you onto their
plan regardless of your medical conditions. But there are open enrollments (discussed
below) and one must apply by the 15th of the month prior to the effective date. If you
want to have a plan on January 1st, you must apply for that plan (through the Exchange
or directly with the carrier) by December 15th.
In order to help the carriers keep premiums low, Individual Coverage Mandates are
implemented starting in 2014. That means everyone must have health insurance or paya penalty. In 2014, that penalty is the greater of $95 or 1% of household income. In
order to discourage people from going without insurance and just paying the penalty,
the ACA only allows individuals to start health insurance at one time during the year.
This year, that’s January through April. In following years, it will be January 1st. If
someone has a major medical issue, they may have to wait for several months until thatissue is covered by health insurance.
There is a lot more to the ACA, and we’re discovering more every day. Some of the
detail may change, but here are some important issues that will not change.
Become more engaged in choosing a plan
Make sure you understand your benefits. A broker can help you, and you won’t have
to pay anything for their services.
Know that provider networks will be shrinking
Verify that providers who are critical to your care are on the plan before you apply.
Consider increasing your deductible
Most of the out-of-pocket maximums will be the same now. Health insurance is risk
management. If your biggest risk is bankruptcy, and you can afford to pay thesmaller bills yourself, maybe a higher deductible plan with a lower premium is a
better fit for you.
Become a consumer of your care
Understand the costs. Check out websites like www.healthcarebluebook.com, where
you can see what a procedure should cost in your area. Go directly to the labs to getwork done. I’ve used www.healthcheckusa.com in the past and have been veryhappy with them. A quick Google search will show labs in your area. In both Oregon
and Washington, there are free resources to get prescription discounts.
JR Hinds, Health Insurance Broker
http://www.hindsandassociates.net/
How Will The Affordable Care Act Affect My Taxes? (Obamacare)
KEY PART OF HEALTH REFORM TAKES EFFECT JAN 1:
Individuals without insurance will owe a tax.
Although the Obama administration delayed to 2015 the rule that firms with 50 or more full-time employees must provide affordable health insurance to workers or pay a stiff fine, the individual mandate’s start date wasn’t deferred, despite a push for this by the GOP.
Now IRS has issued rules on when this tax applies.
Folks must have minimum essential coverage for themselves and their dependents to avoid the tax.
This includes coverage provided by an employer that meets minimum federal requirements, coverage purchased through an exchange and federal coverage such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and veterans coverage.
Several groups of people are exempted from the individual mandate:
1) Individuals for whom coverage is too expensive.
If an employee is eligible for coverage but his or her share of the premium exceeds 8% of the household’s AGI, the penalty tax doesn’t apply. Ditto for folks who are eligible for employer coverage if the cost of a basic bronze-level plan in an exchange, less any federal tax credit for buying insurance, exceeds 8% of the household’s AGI. Members of households where total income is below the level needed to file a tax return also are exempted.
2) Filers who go without coverage for periods of less than three months.
3) People who can show that a hardship forced them to go without coverage.
4) And members of religious groups opposed to private or public insurance.
The tax for being uninsured is normally the higher of two amounts:
The basic penalty or an income-based levy.
The basic penalty is $95 a person for 2014 ($47.50 for each family member under the age of 18), with a $285 ceiling. The income-based penalty is 1% of the excess of the taxpayer’s household’s AGI over the minimum level of AGI needed to trigger filing a tax return. In either case, the tax is reduced proportionally for any months that the taxpayer had coverage.
Both of these levies are scheduled to be significantly higher in 2015 and 2016.
But in no case can the tax exceed the cost of a bronze-level exchange plan
For the taxpayer and family members, also adjusted for months with health coverage.
The tax is paid annually on the 1040. So 2014’s levy is paid in early 2015.
The Service is going to have a hard time policing the tax penalty for 2014.
Employers are supposed to send IRS a report with details about employee coverage so the agency can determine who is uninsured and check whether the penalty is paid. But when the administration delayed the start date of the employer mandate to 2015, it also made employer reporting voluntary for 2014. As a result, the Revenue Service will not have completely accurate data on people who are going without coverage.
And IRS’ enforcement remedies are limited to collect the tax. It is barred from filing a lien or levying a person’s assets, so it’s allowed only to offset tax refunds to collect the penalty. Nor can it charge interest on the unpaid balance of the tax.
*taken from www.kiplinger.com
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
If you employ less than 25 employees, pay an average wage of less than $50,000 and pay at least half of your employee health insurance premiums then you can qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. Just realize that starting in 2014 you must purchase your employee health insurance through a Small Business Health Options program (SHOP) to qualify. 
Here in Oregon you will go to www.coveroregon.com to purchase your coverage. Enrollment for 2014 closes March 31st so be sure to make changes soon so you don't miss out.
New Healthcare Tax Credit Facts
David and I spent all day in class learning about the new healthcare laws and credits. One of the most important things everyone needs to know- to qualify for the Healthcare Credits you must have purchased your health insurance through an exchange. Luckily here in Oregon we have our own marketplace so who cares if the Federal website works or not. Just go to www.coveroregon.com to see if you qualify for the tax credit.
Offers in Compromise for Free
Did you know that you may be able to settle your debt with the IRS for less than you owe? Don't spend more money hiring one of those big companies who say they can do it for you but cost thousands of dollars. Simply go to the IRS website, www.IRS.gov and use the Offers in Compromise pre-qualifier tool. It asks you a series of questions and then tells you if you qualify for an offer based on your financial information, all for free. If you do qualify it will then allow you to proceed with the Offer application.
On the main page of the website just click on the word "Tools" and it will take you to a list of handy helpful tools that include the Offer in a Compromise pre-qualifier Tool.
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