As the glow of the New Year’s ball fades and we enter 2014 in a very real sense, we all turn our thoughts to what lies ahead for employee benefits: Enrollment completion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act individual mandate during the first quarter of the year and implementation of PPACA for business, beginning now.
While the Obama administration altered the law and deferred the business mandate last summer, most businesses that could deferred implementation of the PPACA until their renewal THIS year, whether mid-year or end-of-year decision.
Either way, it will be here before we know it. With the myriad technical fixes and bureaucratic twists and turns, BCN has continued to implement and prepare for compliance, including development of employee management reports to determine eligibility and restructuring our dental offering to include PPACA compliant pediatric dental.
Equally, if not more importantly, we continue to assess options for small to medium sized business. There are several key cost containment options to consider in order to comply with the law, while not completely upsetting the balance that you created over years of careful employee benefit planning.
Certainly the concept of Total Compensation is of great importance when you offer substantial benefits to your staff.
When maintaining a part time workforce is not possible, there is a movement afoot to offer a mini-med or bare-bones type plan parallel to PPACA compliant plans for employees that prefer to opt out and keep costs down. While these sorts of plans are not for everyone, the PPACA allows them in a complementary setting, subject to the rules.
BCN has put several, new guaranteed issue gap offerings in place designed to complement the new health plans, or, in some cases, offer alternatives to more expensive plans. These new complementary plans are issued by Aflac Group … yes The Duck. The difference is: online enrollment, no underwriting, guaranteed issue and rates! Easy.
We look forward to giving you the choices you need to run your businesses successfully!
