Brian G. Eskin

May 2010

I’m thrilled to have found a way to update the LI networking nation of the key changes that are going on with health insurance and provide some insight on what’s available and popular for their clients.

Something NEW for 2010

This year there will be a small business health care tax credit.  This tax credit can be significant for a qualifying small group.  In 2010, the maximum credit is 35% of employer-paid premiums; for tax-exempt organizations, the maximum is 25% of employer paid premiums.  In 2014 the maximum credit increases to 50% and 35% respectively.  In order to qualify for the credit, the employer must not employ more than 25 employees and the average annual compensation of those employees must not exceed $40,000.  Here’s an example of a qualifying company:

• Employees 10
• Wages: $250,000 or $25,000 per worker
• Employer Health Care Costs: $70,000

2010 tax credit: $24,500 (35% credit)

2014 tax credit: $35,000 (50% credit)

Getting Creative

This month, Emblem moved to a 2-enrollee minimum requirement.  This might affect some of your clients who will no longer be able to keep their Emblem insurance plan at their renewal unless they add another employee.  If their spouse is also an employee, they could take their spouse off their plan and add them as an individual insured, should they want to stay with Emblem.  On another note, Emblem added a generic only drug card which give them the ability to offer extremely competitive rates. A single rate is as low as $268 per month and a family rate is under $750 per month. 

Help from NYS

A note about Healthy NY.  The myth is that if your company already has health insurance, you do not qualify for Healthy NY.  The truth is that if your company has insurance, but the employees pay for their own coverage, then they immediately qualify for a Healthy NY plan.  If the company does contribute toward the employee premiums and they financially qualify for Healthy NY, the company would not qualify that year for Healthy NY, but they can immediately change how they cover their employees in an effort to qualify for Healthy NY 12 months from the change.  If a company can qualify for Healthy NY, it is a great way to keep costs down while providing a key benefit to their employees.

In the end…

Where do we go from here?  The key these days to stay on top of your health insurance usage and analyze the average usage of the drug card, amount of office/specialist visits, ER visits, Hospitalization stays, etc.  Once you’ve gathered that information, you can find plans that will better suit your needs.  Looking forward to the next time.

Brian G. Eskin is an Insurance Specialist with B2 Wealth Consultants.  He is available for all questions about this article and other insurance questions.