California health insurance - 5 Ways to Save - Group Tax Credits for Small Business

Are You Missing Out on Tax Credits for Business Health Insurance?

Hopefully not because it could be $1000's monthly.

Let's look at the offer, what qualifies, and how to take advantage of the best kept secret in group health benefits.

Our goal is simple. Get the secret OUT THERE!

10's of 1000's of California companies qualify for this Tax Credit

And yet, enrollment has been paltry. Why?

Business are busy trying to keep the shop afloat.
Their agents haven't communicated the benefit to them
The assume they don't qualify (does anyone ever get those savings??)

The answer is a resounding, "YES"

Let's see if we can make you one of them.

First, what are the tax credits?

You can always run your quote here:

Intro to the Small Business tax credits

Small Business tax credits for health insurance Part of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) dealt with health insurance for Businesses as opposed to Individual and Family plans.

We've all heard a lot about Covered California and individual/family tax credits.

Hopefully.

Not as many people know about the Small Business side of things.

A smaller marketing push aimed to notify companies that if they offer health benefits to their employees, they may also be eligible for tax credits.

These are legitimate tax credits that you take monthly...not some "wait till April" and hope it all works out.

They are geared towards the employer as a way encourage the offering of group health benefits to employees.

They also were a carrot to match the stick that the IRS just clarified in July:

Employers that contribute towards employee's individual/family plans could be subject to a nasty penalty:

$100 per employee/ per DAY or $36,500 per year

This huge penalty even applies when the contribution is "passed" through a 105 plan (which have been sold to employers aggressively....ouch).

The penalty goes all the way down to employers with 1 (one) employee.

The tax credit was there to offer some relief to employers in light of the penalties coming on board.

Okay. So who is eligible?

Eligibility for California Business Health Tax Credits

There are the two main requirements:

Companies with 25 or less employees
Average salary less than $50K (does not include owners/officers)

Let's take an example:

Assume your company has about 10 employees and the average salary for your non-owners is $25K.

Gold mine! You're actually in the sweet spot of the law for tax credits and get this...

You may receive tax credits up to 50% of the employees health insurance cost!

company tax credit That's huge. Half off sale.

The tax credit is on a sliding scale so as your average income goes up, the tax credit percentage decreases.

Still, if you want to offer health benefits, why not get Uncle Sam to pick up part of the bill?

Why not, indeed!

The tax credit applies right away.

Let's say an employee's monthly premium is $200 and you get the maximum tax credit of 50%?

Your monthly premium will reflect a $100 charge for that employee. The tax credit is taken out monthly. Right away.

Think of how many companies this could help?

Think of all the doctor/dentist offices with clerical staff making around $25K?

What about retail, wholesale, construction?

There are 10's of 1000s of California companies eligible for this tax credit.

We want to take the message to the mount (or at least the internet) and get the word out!

We can help you quickly check whether you're eligible for this tax credit.

Call 866-696-8636 or just enter your basic census information here.

We'll get right to work.

So, that's the tax credit... what plans can you select?

Plans eligible for the Small Business Tax Credit

More good news.

The ACA law essentially standardized the health insurance market.

That means that it create plan benchmarks that all plans have to meet (+- 2%).

They are the Metallic plans:

Bronze plans: high deductible; also includes HSA options
Silver plans: reduce deductible approx $2K and adds copays
Gold: low deductibles approx $500 and richer copays/coinsurance
Platinum: usually no deductible with very rich copays

A Bronze plan with one carrier will be similar to a bronze plan with another carrier.

That makes the plan benefit level pretty easy.

If we determine that you're eligible for a tax credit, we'll then run a quote through Covered California for Small Business.

Our service is free to you as certified Covered California agents.

The current carriers that take part in the Covered California for Small Business market:

Kaiser
Blue Shield of California
Health Net of California
Sharp
Western Health Advantage
Chinese California Health Plan

There are also a host of Dental providers with the dominant carriers available.

A couple of important points on the plans and carriers available:

The core benefits will be similar if not identical to off-Exchange plans
The networks will be similar if not identical to the off-Exchange plans
The rates will be similar if not identical to the off-Exchange plans

Again, the ACA law really standardized plan and network offerings.

Ability to Mix and Match Carrier Offering

Covered California for companies

One big benefit of Covered California for Small Business (in addition to the tax credits), is the ability to offer different carriers to each employee under one clean umbrella.

For example, a company can pick one plan level (let's say Silver) and then let the employees pick from any of the carriers.

This is especially important for companies that want to offer Kaiser

In areas where Kaiser is dominant, many times you will have a certain percentage of employees that absolutely want to stay with Kaiser.

You will also have other employees that want to keep their doctors outside of the Kaiser network.

This can be a big problem. Assuming you want to keep everyone happy.

Some carrier will work around the Kaiser question but it's always been messy.

Covered California for Small Business is a quick work-around.

Just choose your plan level.

Kaiser lovers can choose the Kaiser plan in that level.

Other employees can choose from the other carriers according to their doctor network preferences.

Everyone's happy (at least when it comes to insurance options!)

Throw in the tax credits and we have a great offering!

We can quickly check network options for your employees by their doctors and quote the best options.

Call 866-696-8636 or enter basic census info and email help@calhealth.net with doctor lists.

We'll get right to work.

Covered Ca for Small Business Contribution Options

We have many of the same options for contribution flexibility and processing as we would with any of the major carrier direct.

We can either fund based on a % of a given plan or a fixed amount per month.

For example, we can fund 50% of the Silver HMO with Health Net and the employees would pay the difference if they choose another plan.

We can fund $200/employee/month towards their choice of plan is our selected metallic benefit level.

We keep a great deal of control with the addition of the tax credit.

Quick Review of the Small Business Tax Credit

tax credit for companies So, this is the heart of it.

If you're in the eligible pool (25 or less employees with average salary under $50K), contact us immediately.

We can still use a POP 125 to allow pre-tax contribution for employee's share of the cost
Dependents can also enroll although the tax credit will apply to employees only
We will avoid the penalty for contributing to individual/family plans
We will provide ACA compliant coverage which allows employees to avoid penalty for not having health insurance

We can at least research what the savings and out-of-pocket costs will be.

There's no downside to knowing what's available.

Our service is free to you and with the changes hitting 80% of California companies, it's important to have us ALL the options available.

Call 866-696-8636 or complete the online census below to get your full Tax Credit Eligibility Report.

5 Ways for California Companies to Save on Health Insurance