Though the employer mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been pushed back until 2015, giving business owners more time to update their employee benefit packages, there are still many entrepreneurs who have certain assumptions about the healthcare overhaul that aren't accurate. To help separate fact from fiction, the Washington Post recently outlined some of the most common myths.
One of the most frequent mistaken beliefs is that the federal government will handle all of the insurance marketplaces. This is only partially true. Some states made it clear to health officials earlier this year that they would not run the insurance marketplaces. The federal government has taken control of these as a result, while other exchanges – such as Connecticut, Kentucky and California – are state run.
Another flawed assumption is that all business owners are required to provide health coverage to their workers. The Washington Post noted that the mandate only applies to entrepreneurs who employ more than 50 workers who are full-time, which the government defines as more than 30 hours per week. Because most business owners are small – 97 percent, according to government data – most entrepreneurs will not be affected by the ACA.
Something else that may require clarification are the exchanges themselves. The paper noted that some employers are under the assumption that if business owners want to supply coverage to their workers, that they have to do it through the insurance marketplaces. The only place where this is required is in Washington, D.C. In short, if companies want to renew their policies for their workers, they will have to do it through the exchange. But for those that have private plans, they can continue to offer them as they have been, so long as they satisfy the 10 essential health benefits provision.
