As elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act take effect, business owners are unsure what to expect or how to prepare.
The Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday hosted a session featuring Karen Kerber, of Kerber Rose Certified Public Accountants, to help clear up some of the confusion regarding the legislation known as Obamacare.
Kerber, however, admitted some language in the 2010 health care reform law and recent alterations have her confused, as well.
She said one thing was clear: Business owners expect reforms will be costly.
“A majority of employers that you talk to truly believe their costs are going to go up substantially with the health care reform,” Kerber said.
The requirement for businesses to provide health insurance to its employees has been pushed back to 2015, but the individual health insurance mandate is still due to take effect in 2014, Kerber said.
Individuals who fail to get health coverage either on their own or with their employer face a penalty of $95 individually, $285 for the family or up to 1 percent of their household income, whichever is greater.
In 2016, that penalty increases to $695 per person, $2,085 per family or up to 2½ percent of household income.
Republicans have been pushing the Obama administration to delay the individual mandate until 2015, as well, according to Kerber, but no action has been taken.
“There is some pressure about why they’re giving big business a break and not allowing individuals to have an additional year,” Kerber said.
For businesses, the new requirements could alter their work force, as well.
Most businesses define a full-time employee as someone who works 37½ to 40 hours per week. In the federal health care reform, however, a full-time employee is designated as anyone who works at least 30 hours weekly.
Kerber said the mandate to provide full-time workers with health insurance could prompt employers to rely more on part-time employees. More workers might need to work several jobs to make ends meet because full-time employment will be so hard to come by, she said.
“I don’t know that that’s a very good side effect that came out of this bill, but it is a reality,” Kerber said.
Rhonda Strebel, executive director for the Rural Health Initiative and co-owner of The Main Event in Cecil, said Kerber’s presentation was informative but seemed geared toward larger entities such as government and industry.
She said she hopes the chamber would host another forum geared toward the small businesses and farmers that are uncertain about what they have to do to insure themselves and their employees.
“Small businesses like The Main Event, we don’t have that many employees, so what is this going to mean for businesses like us?” Strebel said.
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