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Ohio Businesses Should Plan Now for Healthcare Changes

7 Things Business Owners Can Do to Get Ready Now

Columbus, Ohio - With just 6 month left before new healthcare mandates, taxes and administrative requirements kick-in for both small and large businesses, Horizon Business Solutions (HBS) is recommending that business owners begin now to plan and prepare for the impact these changes will have on their businesses.

“Open enrollment for individual and small business health insurance exchanges beginning Oct. 1, of this year,” says Kim Bolin, vice president of HBS. Employers will have the option of choosing what Qualified Health Plans to offer their employees from the SHOP exchange, or Small Business Health Options Programs.

Bolin suggests that a business owner can begin to plan now by thinking about the following:

1. Understand how the new health insurance works - For example, understand the differences between premiums and out-of-pocket costs, like deductibles and copayments. Compare these details to help determine which plans are right for you and your employees.
2. Learn about different types of health insurance - Through the SHOP Exchange, choose a level of coverage that gives you and your employees the right balance of cost and benefits.
3. Think about the optimal time to begin offering coverage - You’ll need to choose the beginning of a month to start offering health coverage. Consider what timing would work best for you and your employees.
4. Set your budget - Think about how much money you can afford to spend for group coverage. You’ll also need to consider how much your employees can spend for their coverage.
5. Get organized - You’ll want to have basic information about your business organized and available, like a list of employees you plan to cover and your tax ID number.
6. Make a list of questions you have before it’s time to choose which health plans you’ll offer - Consider what’s most important for your budget and your employees.
7. Look for help. If you already use a health insurance agent or broker, they’ll be able to help you figure out your options. Brokers sell many different insurance products and are usually paid by insurance companies. Agents work for just one insurance company.

Horizon Business Solutions wants business owners and their employees to know that new consumer protection benefits will be available when the Open Enrollment begins. First, there are new caps on the higher premiums insurers can charge businesses for older employees, and second; an employee with high health care costs no longer increases a group’s premium. There will also be new limits on the share of premiums going to insurers’ profits and administrative costs.

For more information on services provided by HBS, call Kim Bolin at (614) 577- 1700 or email Kim Bolin at bkimbolin@horizonbiz.com.

About Horizon Business Solutions (HBS)

Since 1981, Horizon Business Solutions has been providing unique full-service accounting services to small and medium sized businesses with revolutionary ways to manage bookkeeping and accounting. These services include helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex tax requirements at the local, state and federal level by providing accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and technology support and services.