After the sweeping changes brought by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that were phased in over the following several years, these federal actions then further molded small business health benefit plans:
IRS Notice 2013-54 – restrictions on employer health care reimbursements not coordinated with ACA insurance plans.
IRS Notice 2015-17 – restricts an employer from using individual insurance as part of an employer paid plan
21st Century Cures Act – effective January 1, 2017, allows the use of individual insurance reimbursements for qualified small business health plans.
President Trump’s Executive Order Number 1 – Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal, weakened IRS enforcement of Affordable Care Act penalties.
President Trump’s Executive Order Number 49 – Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States, expanded allowance of HRAs, introduces association health plans, encourages “skinny” health insurance and short term, and other less expensive and less robust types of health insurance, intended to end use of the term “Obamacare” and ushered in use of the term “Trumpcare”.
IRS Notice Notice 2017-67 – regulations for the use of Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – eliminates the individual mandate penalty beginning in 2019.
?? (anticipated 1/19/2018) – a budget bill that eliminates or postpones the Cadillac tax
This review of legislation can certainly be a dry topic. The more interesting topic is how these evolutions of health plan law present opportunities to small business employers to lower costs and improve benefits. I cover that topic on other posts and am pleased to discuss the opportunities to custom-design a health plan that works best for your firm.
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