Small Businesses are about to get hit by a freight train

So that is just the penalty? And the actual cost of the insurance will be significant.

 

still not that many in my experience....even back when lots of companies offered benefits, most of your small businesses in the blue collar sector have never offered insurance or retirement...this is a fact that lots of the desk jockies around here dont realize.

Trust me....I would LOVE LOVE LOVE insurance.....a half a million dollars in debt for something I had no control over.

but, Im a blue collar guy, always have been, always will be.
Over the years, the only job I ever had that offered benefits was when I worked at AJ Foyt Chevy when I was a mechanic....unfortunately they closed down a couple years after I started there.

The biggest problem for folks who work the kind of jobs I work is that they rarely pay good enough to allow you to afford to buy insurance yourself.

The kids and office types would tell me that it is my fault for not working in an industry that pays better, but you know....you gotta have folks working the jobs you guys wont touch, and it is just a fact of life that those jobs dont pay for ****.

 

In the past, how small a group could be written without underwriting (in TX)? I believe in NC, it was 2 with BCBS and UHC and maybe some others.

 

I work in a two person business where I am one of the owners and I have my own insurance. The info I have gotten from BCBS of MN is that ACA isn't going to change anything for me.

As far as your situation I don't know how much you earn but if you shop around and/or sign up for an exchange you are likely going to find a plan that you can afford and as your own case shows one that would've likely saved you a lot of money as compared to having to pay for all of your own medical costs.

 

Most companies...I believe...are going to opt NOT to have coverage eventually, because the penalty is far less than the cost of compliance.

 

I guess their days of entitlement are over!

 

So Rockets2K could have been spared that massive debt related to healthcare.... just a bummer.

 

$2000/employee is HELLA cheaper than providing insurance for an entire year. And that doesn't even include the other costs associated with administering a health care program.

I've been to two CLE's on this stuff so far...the conclusion I keep arriving at is that ultimately companies aren't going to be providing health insurance any longer. It's going to be handled otherwise. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know.

 

Yup, had to get CLE credit for compliance and the same conclusion was reached.

 

So this 2000$ goes where exactly?

It seems like we are all playing a game of monopoly and the government owns most of the deeds.

It might not bother me as much if they actually knew how to spend money correctly.

 

I knew you did...wasn't trying to be argumentative. Did want to point out that there are more costs for a company administering health care for its employees than simply the premiums.

Yeah, it's not going to happen overnight...but I think it's where it is heading.

 

I think most people that don't have employer plans will qualify.

 

Let's say you have no insurance and have a car wreck and are hurt in such a way that will require ongoing care, rehab etc.

So you pay your 1% fine. Is that for the current year only or for all the years that you were uninsured?

Then you pick up payments on some plan. Do you have to make any retroactive payments back to the beginning of the plan year or perhaps even earlier than that?

Under current law, you have six months to elect COBRA coverage if your plan qualifies for it. What most people don't realize is that whether you wait a day a month or the full six months, you have to catch up the entire premium due in order to continue your coverage-- be it one month, three months, six months or more under certain circumstances.