Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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JOURNAL TRUCKGAUGE Is health care hazardous to your health? The biggest changes from Obamacare are still to come I n our recent trucking outlook survey (www.ccjdigital. com/truckingoutlook), more than a quarter of trucking executives said they thought costs related to health care would be their companies��� fastest-rising cost in 2013. And for 2012, the only cost that more people said rose the fastest was fuel. In the February 2013 Randall-Reilly MarketPulse survey of for-hire trucking executives (www.rrmarketpulse.com), more than half of executives said their health care-related costs had risen by 10 percent or more during 2012. And nearly 14 percent said costs had jumped by at least 20 percent. Three years have passed since Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ��� more commonly known as Obamacare ��� and so it���s not surprising that more than two-thirds of trucking executives participating in the survey said they knew the provisions of the law fairly well or better. Still, tnearly a third said they knew little or nothing about the law���s requirements. And among carriers with 100 or fewer power units, more than half said they knew little or nothing about the law. Some key provisions of Obamacare already have kicked in, such as a ban on lifetime coverage limits, coverage for children up to 26 not eligible for employer-sponsored plans and a bar against pre-existing condition exclusions on children 19 and younger. A temporary small business tax credit also is now available for firms with up to 25 employees. BY AVERY VISE Various other changes have taken effect since 2011, but things really start getting complex in 2014. That���s when states must offer health benefit exchanges for individuals to buy qualified health plans. States also must offer exchanges allowing small businesses ��� those with 100 or fewer employees ��� to buy insurance in a pool. In addition, the ban on preexisting condition exclusions begins to apply to everyone. Among the more controversial provisions of Obamacare is the requirement beginning in 2014 that all U.S. citizens and legal residents obtain health insurance through their employers, the exchanges or some other mechanism. If not, that person faces a penalty of 2.5 percent of income. But individuals will qualify for premium tax credits to purchase insurance if their household income falls below 400 percent of the federal poverty line. That works out to about $88,000 for a family of four. The premium tax credit is a big issue for your company if you have more than 50 employees because you could be forced to pay penalties if any employees opt for subsidized insurance coverage. If you don���t offer a health insurance plan and have at least one full-time employee eligible for the subsidy, you will have to pay a $2,000 penalty for every full-time employee after the first 30 employees. If you do offer health insurance and have at least one employee eligible for the tax credit, you generally will have to pay $3,000 per full-time employee receiving the tax credit. If, however, the penalty would be smaller if you paid $2,000 for every full-time employee after the first 30, then that���s what you would pay instead. There���s more, of course, and the regulations to implement it all still are being drafted. But one thing is clear: If your company currently has fewer than 50 employees, you need to assess whether the revenue benefits from growth are likely to offset any potential penalties. And if you already are above that threshold, you need assess the various elements ��� how much your employees make, how affordable your plan is if you offer one, and the scope of penalties you potentially face ��� to determine your most prudent course of action. You could face penalties beginning in 2014. Resources The U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers a wealth of information, including a flow chart to help employers determine whether they face penalties; a penalty calculator; a table of the added costs from Obamacare; and an interactive timeline of when key provisions of the law take effect. Visit www.uschamber.com/health-reform. OTHER RESOURCES: Official federal government website: www.healthcare.gov National Federation of Independent Business: www.nfib.com/advocacy/healthcare American Trucking Associations: www.trucking.org/AdvIssues/Labor/Pages/HealthCare.aspx 16 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL CCJ0413_AVERY_Truckgauge.indd 16 AVERY VISE is executive director, trucking research and analysis for Randall-Reilly and senior editor, industry analysis for Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail avise@truckgauge.com. | APRIL 2013 3/19/13 3:27 PM