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Affordable Care Act Research Paper

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The Affordable Care Act
President Obama signed The Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010. The goal of the Affordable Care Act was to provide health care for all Americans and to help control the growth in health care spending. In addition to health insurance reforms, the Affordable Care Act includes tax provisions that affect individuals, families, businesses, insurers, tax-exempt organizations and government entities. These new tax provisions impact health insurance provided by employers.
Provisions for All Employers
There are two new provisions of the Affordable Care Act that apply to employers of all sizes:
1. The Additional Medicare Tax requires employers to withhold .9% of wages in excess of $200,000. These funds help fund …show more content…

Self-insured employers must file an annual return which details the coverage that they offer to employees.
2. Self-insured employers pay a fee to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. To calculate this fee, multiply the number of lives covered times the policy fee. The current policy fee is $2.08. Plans that are limited in coverage, such a vision, dental, or employee assistance programs are exempt.
Small Employer Provisions
For the purposes of the Affordable Care Act, any employer that has less than 50 employees is a small employer. There is no mandate for small employers to provide health insurance, however there are incentives available to make providing insurance easier and more affordable.
Small Employers with less than 50 employees are eligible to buy insurance coverage through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP.) This program allows small employers to have access to the plans on the health care exchange.
Certain small employers may also be eligible for the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit. This credit is available for two consecutive tax years. In order to qualify for the credit the small employer must have:
1. Fewer than 25 Full-time Equivalent Employees (2 Part-time Employees = 1 Full-time …show more content…

Large employers must provide health care coverage as well has have additional reporting requirements.
Large Employers must file an annual return containing information about health coverage offered to employees and dependents. Employers must also provide the same information to employees.
Minimum Essential Coverage must be provided to full-time employees and their dependents that is affordable and provides minimum value. Dependents are an employee’s child who has not yet reached 26. Spouses, stepchildren, and foster children are not dependents for the Affordable Care Act.
If an employee of a large employer receives the premium tax credit, then the employer will be subject to a shared responsibility payment. There are two types of shared responsibility payments for large employers:
1. The employer does not offer minimum essential coverage to at least 95% of its full-time employees. The shared responsibility payment will be $2000 per full-time employee less the first 30. Payment will be due on all employees, even if they accepted minimum essential

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