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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect at the beginning of 2010 and many businesses are still being affected by its provisions and rules in Jackson MS. While only business that fall under the requirements of the ACA will experience challenges, some businesses will struggle meeting the rules for health insurance coverage of employees because of the costs associated with the law.

Some worry that the ACA will negatively impact the market due to increased burdens on organizations across the state of MS. Here is the good news and the bad news, to help you stay informed about how the ACA may affect your Jackson MS business this year.

Small Employers

Depending on the size of your company, you could be eligible for a small business health care tax credit when you provide your employees with health coverage. This credit is eligible for small businesses that employ less than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) people. To determine if your company is eligible for this tax credit you need to figure out how many FTE employees are on your staff. Then, you must offer at least 50 percent of the cost of coverage to the employees.

Large Employers

The employer mandate has been delayed until January 1, 2015. Companies are not required to provide health coverage to employees, but are required to provide affordable health coverage if they employ more than 50 people. If the company does not offer affordable coverage, it will be fined by the government.

Companies that employ between 50 and 99 employees do not have to comply with the regulations until 2016. Businesses with 100 or more employees only have to offer coverage to 70 percent of full-time employees in 2015 and 95 percent in 2016 and beyond if they want to prevent tax penalties being levied against the company.

Largest Employers

The largest employers in the country, those with more than 200 employees on the payroll, are required to enroll all of their new employees who are eligible for the company’s health plans. The employee is required to opt out of this enrollment if he or she does not want the health coverage from the company.

Temporary Staffing

One way some companies are offsetting the requirements of the ACA is working with temporary staffing agencies. When a company hires temporary workers they are not listed as full-time. They are not even listed as part-time because they work 30 hours or less per week and are not with the company for very long.

A caveat with temporary staffing is that companies hiring temporary staffers usually do not provide those staffers with health coverage. The health coverage is provided by the staffing firm that sent the temporary worker to the company. Health coverage will only be paid to the temporary worker by the staffing firm if he or she has reached full-time status at the company.

The ACA has affected many Jackson MS businesses since its inception in 2010, but many provisions are taking effect in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Make sure your company is prepared for all of the ACA provisions taking effect in the coming years.


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