Health Reform Legislation

With so much legislation coming out of Washington these days, it's a continual challenge to find those bits and pieces that really matter to the small business. We did come across one item in The Health Reform Bill that may really help you. If you qualify, you can receive a Federal credit of up to 35% of your health insurance bill. The rules are convoluted but I will attempt to translate them into English:

The rules are as follows:

1.       You must have 25 or fewer employees and

2.       Average wages must be $50,000 or less and

3.       The employer must pay for at least 50% of the total health insurance premium and

4.       Seasonal workers, family employees and owners are excluded from the calculation.

The credit phases out to zero between 10 and 25 employees. Additionally, the credit phases out to zero between average wages of $25,000 and $50,000. Note that you must meet both criteria.

The calculation of the credit is a little tricky but we have developed an excel template that you can use to calculate your potential credit. If you would like us to send you the template, please send me an email and we will get it sent over to you.