Health Care Reform 2014 and Beyond

The Hoss apologizes for the delay in his final posting on Health Care Reform.

Mrs. Hoss's business required that we convert one of the stalls in the family barn (our house) into an office. Although Mrs. Hoss does the vast majority of the work the Hoss must be around to run for supplies, prepare the occasional meal and once in a while provide some actual labour.



Now, back to the health care reform timeline and the changes to take place in 2014 and beyond.

• If you do not have acceptable coverage in 2014 you will pay a fine of $95.00. This will increase to $325 in 2015, $695 in 2016 or a maximum of 2.5% of family income). Penalties will be indexed to the Consumer Price Index after 2016. Note: There will be a cap of $2,250 per family and the charge per child is half the required amount.

• Workers who don’t qualify for tax credits and who are exempt from individual responsibility can join an exchange plan by using their employer contribution.

• A fine of $2000 per employee will be imposed on companies with 50 or more employees who do not offer coverage to employees, if at least one of their employees receives a tax credit. The is per employee after the first 30. The maximum waiting period before insurance takes effect is to 90 days. Employers with employees receiving a tax credit will pay $3,000 for each worker receiving a tax credit.

• Health insurers are prohibited from charging higher premiums due to health status, gender or other reasons. They cannot refuse coverage due to a pre existing condition or current health status. They cannot impose an annual limit on coverage.

• Small employers and individuals will be able to shop around for standardized health plans through health exchanges.

• People not eligible for or who cannot obtain acceptable coverage and whose income is above Medicaid eligibility and below 400% of the poverty level will receive credits through health exchanges.

• New funding will be provided to the States so that all nonelderly individuals Medicaid eligibility can be increased to 133 of poverty level.

• Health insurance companies whose total premiums are greater than $25 million will have to pay an annual health insurance provider fee based on the insurers' market share.

• In 2018 so called "Cadillac Plans" will pay an excise tax.

This concludes The Hoss's summary of the upcoming changes to health care. I hope you have found the information useful.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Health Care Reform Year One
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Health Care Reform Year Two 2011

In the last edition of Hoss Cents Free Financial Magazine we took a look at changes to health care that are scheduled to take place in 2010. Today we review changes to take place in 2011.

Free annual wellness visits will be provided by Medicare along with personalized prevention programs. There will no co-pay required for preventive services under any new plan.

Beginning October 1, home and community based services for the disabled can be offered by the States through Medicaid as an option to institutionalized care.

Prescription Drug Plan or Medicare Advantage enrollees will receive a 50% discount on brand-name drugs. There will be phased in discounts on generic and brand name drugs to completely close the "doughnut hole" by 2020.

Withdrawals from health savings accounts before age 65 for non qualified medical expenses will increase to 20% from the current 10%. Archer medical savings accounts will also have a tax increase for withdrawals not used for qualified medical expenses, that increase will be from the current 15% to 20% a 5% increase.

In order to ease the administrative burden of sponsoring a cafeteria plan (small businesses, a plan will be created to enable small business to offer tax-free benefits.

There will be an increase in the Medicare payroll tax for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples filing jointly above $250,00. The tax increase will be 0.9%. (1.45% to 2.35%).

The Hoss hopes his ongoing summary of the health care plan helps you understand how the bill affects you in this and upcoming years..

Next Hoss Cents Free Financial Money Magazine Post: Health Care Reform Year 2013
Return to previous post from Health Care Reform Year Two 2011

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Health Care Reform Year One