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Don’t Wait on Healthcare Reform




Full Interview transcript

Carl: Hello business owners this is Carl Kleimann with another Business Survival Tip from Odyssey OneSource.   
Like most business owners, you are likely following the healthcare debate in Congress.  If you are a small business owner, you may be concerned about the impact that mandatory healthcare would have on your cost of doing business.    

I have spoken with several employers who are of the impression that healthcare reform would have an immediate impact on their healthcare strategy.  As a result, they are putting off important decisions such as changing plan designs, shopping for alternative coverage and most importantly, surveying employees about their healthcare priorities.  This could be a costly strategy.  The reality is that healthcare reform has not passed yet and if and when it does, it will take years to implement.  It is far too early to stop taking responsibility for your company’s healthcare strategy. 

Under the current proposal, reforms will be phased in over a nine year period, with completion expected in 2018.  Employers see essentially no changes until 2013, when mandatory employer coverage kicks in for all but the smallest of businesses.  In fact, 2013 is the year that the landscape begins to change rapidly for employers.  The insurance exchange and the heavily debated public plan are scheduled to open for business in 2013, but only to employers with 25 or fewer employees.  In 2014, they expand to employers with 50 or fewer employees.  In 2015, the insurance exchange is scheduled to expand to employers with 100 or fewer employees and finally, in 2018, benefit and employer contribution standards go into effect for all plans.

So, as you can see, even if the current proposal becomes law, it will be years before it has a material impact on the healthcare strategy of your business.  Until then, continue to do all of the things that you have done in the past to obtain the best healthcare value possible for your employees.    

I am Carl Kleimann and this has been another Business Survival Tip by Odyssey One Source, ranked as the number one Professional Employer Organization three years running by the Black Book of Outsourcing.

For more information on this and other issues affecting employers, please visit odysseyonesource.com.


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