Enrollment First, Inc. & Ratliff Law Firm Partner to Bring WellMEC, the Seamless Compliance Solution to Health Care Reform & the Affordable Care Act, to the Marketplace
Knoxville, Tennessee (PRWEB) July 26, 2013 -- WellMEC, the new solution to the Affordable Care Act, is now available to employers in all fifty states. Enrollment First, Inc. and Ratliff Law Firm ERISA and tax attorneys, Eric Ratliff and Alex Renfro, together have created the exclusive solution to health care reform that eliminates compliance challenges created by the Affordable Care Act.
The Affordable Care Act continues to be in a state of flux, spawning a multitude of new rules and regulations that enterprises must comply with or face significant financial penalties. “We are excited to be able to pick up the pieces and exclusively bring the solution to the marketplace for business owners and corporations alike,” said Enrollment First Founder and President Hazen Mirts. “It’s been a long time coming, but after much evaluation and brainstorming between my team and the ERISA and tax attorneys, our solution is ready now and it eliminates the challenges of complying with the ACA now, in 2014, and beyond.”
WellMEC, officially available in July 2013, is a minimum essential coverage, self-insurance plan with reinsurance and covers all wellness and preventive services. The plan provides audit protection through automatic enrollment for new employees and includes a PPO Network. Employees can also elect to participate in WellMEC+, the minimum value plan that satisfies the unaffordable plan penalty, as well as a hospital indemnity plan.
WellMEC eliminates the challenges created by the ACA by providing employers with complete visibility and control over their health benefits while also managing the entire process for them, making it a total turn-key solution all under one roof. One of the most urgent challenges employers are facing is the fast-approaching October 1, 2013 deadline that requires by law written communication and education of their health plan and the existence of an exchange to all full time employees prior to October 1, 2013! The WellMEC compliance system manages exchange communications for employers, creating and delivering communications privately labeled to their business to all employees, all the while certifying plan documents to be compliant and taking care of benefit plan development, billing, eligibility, and enrollments.
“Employees can call and get answers to their health care questions from trained agents that are right here in the US,” said Mirts. “Not only that, but we also assist employees in filling out applications to the exchange to make sure they are completed properly – and to protect employers from steep excise taxes that are not tax deductible they would otherwise pay due to employees qualifying for subsidies.”
The penalties Mirts mentioned are steep, indeed. If an employer is subject to the penalty and fails to offer any full-time employee health coverage, and if any full-time employee enrolls in the exchange and receives a tax subsidy to purchase coverage, the employer is subject to a penalty equal to the number of the business’ full-time employees, minus 30, times $2,000 per year. If an employer offers its employees health insurance, but that coverage does not provide a “minimum value” as required by the law, or if the employee's contribution for self-only coverage is greater than 9.5% of the employee’s household income, the employee is eligible to receive a tax subsidy to purchase coverage through the exchange. The employer must pay a penalty tax of $3,000 per year for each of these employees.
“These regulations have not been employer-friendly,” said Renfro.
In addition to paying a steep price for employees that qualify for a subsidy, those employees automatically become whistle-blowers under OSHA protection. This means that if employers treat them any differently, they could face a class-action lawsuit. What’s worse is that employers won’t find out which employees qualify for subsidies until January 1, 2015.
“These taxes and mandates have been the driving force behind the creation of WellMEC,” said Mirts. “Renfro is right; none of these regulations have been beneficial for employers and ultimately our economy. Thankfully, we’ve built a solution that helps employers attract, retain and motivate employees to stay, and stay healthy.”
For more information on WellMEC or Enrollment First, Inc., visit http://www.wellmec.net or http://www.enroll1st.com.
WellMEC is protected by patent pending. ID 16202001.
Hazen Mirts, Enrollment First, Inc., http://www.enroll1st.com, 865.684.1030, [email protected]
Share this article