Zane Benefits Publishes New Information on Small Businesses Sending Employees to the Exchanges
Park City, Utah (PRWEB) October 17, 2013 -- Today, Zane Benefits, the number one online small business health benefits solution, published new information on small businesses sending employees to the exchanges.
According to Zane Benefits’ website, with 2014 and health care reform right around the corner, small businesses are strategizing about the best health insurance solution. And with the exchanges opening this month, it appears that many small businesses are passing up the small business SHOP exchanges, and opting to send employees to the individual exchanges.
Although the small business SHOP exchange may seem attractive on the surface, it is still a group health insurance plan and it doesn't address the core problem that group health insurance is broken.
According to Zane Benefits’ website, some states, such as Texas, only have one insurance company offering policies through the SHOP exchange. The provision that the SHOP exchange was to provide an "employee choice" option to small businesses, where employees are given a menu of plans to choose from, was delayed until 2015.
Sending employees to the individual health insurance exchanges, or to the private individual market, provides employees more choice and also provides better value to the small business and to the employees.
By allowing employees to buy health insurance through the individual exchanges, employers are opening them up to be eligible for premium federal premium tax subsidies. When offered an “affordable” group health insurance plan, employees become ineligible for the federal tax subsidies offered through the individual exchanges.
According to Zane Benefits’ website, eligibility for the subsidies is based on a standard called the "federal poverty level" (FPL). The employee's subsidy will cap the cost of their health insurance between 2% and 9.5% of his or her annual income, depending on how much money they make. Employees who earn up to 400 percent of FPL may be eligible.
While the small business tax credits are available on the SHOP for eligible employers, the incentive is low compared to the individual premium subsidies and cost savings on the individual exchanges.
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About Zane Benefits
Zane Benefits was founded in 2006 to provide a revolutionized SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) administration platform ("ZaneHealth") for defined contribution health care. The flagship software provides a 100% paperless administration experience to small businesses and insurance professionals that want to offer better health benefits without a traditional group health insurance plan at lower costs. For more information about Zane Benefits, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com.
Christina Merhar, Zane Benefits, http://www.zanebenefits.com, 800-391-9209 6725, [email protected]
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