ORANGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National health reform legislation passed earlier this year provides for billions of dollars in federal tax credits to be made available to small business owners in an effort to extend health coverage to most of the country’s 45 million uninsured. The trouble is a relatively few number of business owners know if they qualify or how to avail themselves of these funds.
In an effort to provide small businesses greater access to these dollars, CHOICE Administrators® announced today the creation of a simple “tax credit calculator” that will let brokers identify for their groups whether they’re eligible for the tax credit while also calculating potential savings. CHOICE Administrators is the nation’s leader in developing and administering health insurance exchanges and currently serves more than 10,500 employers and more than 180,000 members.
“Especially in these tough economic times, many small business owners need the kind of financial relief that this tax break affords,” says Ron Goldstein, president of CHOICE Administrators. “Our tax credit calculator is designed to make business owners more aware of this tremendous benefit so health insurance can be more affordable for them and their employees.”
While many provisions of the health reform legislation will be rolled out over the coming years, tax credits for small businesses providing health insurance takes effect now. Companies with no more than 25 workers and whose average annual salaries are less than $50,000 are eligible for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the employer’s contribution for health premiums. Nearly eight in ten small businesses are expected to qualify for the tax credits, according to Families USA, a Washington-based healthcare advocacy group.
The tax credit was designed to spur companies that don’t currently offer health benefits to do so and to serve as a stopgap measure until 2014 when health insurance exchanges will be in place in every state. These exchanges will be a pathway toward providing affordable healthcare for more people by allowing an individual or small business to easily compare the costs and benefits of various health plans so as to find one that meets an individual’s needs and pocketbook.
“Healthcare exchanges are really the key because they will encourage choice and lead to more value-based purchasing,” says Goldstein. “If done properly exchanges have the capacity to help us move to a more rational method of purchasing health coverage while getting society closer to achieving the goal of universal coverage for all. Even though exchanges are not mandated to be in place until 2014, we are advising all business owners to start exploring these now.”
Small business owners interested in learning more about the Tax Credit Calculator are advised to contact their broker. Licensed brokers may access the calculator at www.choiceadmin.com.
CHOICE Administrators® Exchanges is the nation’s leader in developing and administering health insurance exchanges. Currently serving more than 10,500 employers and more than 180,000 members, CHOICE Administrators is a member of The Word & Brown Companies, the nation’s leading developer and administrator of consumer choice exchange models. Among the products currently operated by CHOICE Administrators are the CaliforniaChoice® small group (2-50 employees) and mid-market (51-199 employees) private exchanges and Quotit, one of the nation’s largest individual/family proposal and online enrollment systems that generated 2.5 million individual health quotes nationally in 2009. Further information may be obtained at www.choiceadmin.com.
CONTACT:
for CHOICE Administrators
Ross Goldberg, 818-879-1876
[email protected]
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