September 1, 2013
Required Employer Notice to Employees of the New Health Insurance Marketplace

We wanted to remind our business clients about an upcoming October 1, 2013 deadline that may be applicable for you in connection with the new health insurance laws in this country.

Under the Affordable Care Act, employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (generally those firms that have at least 1 employee and at least $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business) must provide notification to their employees about the new Health Insurance Marketplace, inform employees that they may be eligible for a premium tax credit if they purchase coverage through the Marketplace, and advise employees that if they purchase a plan through the Marketplace, they may lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered by the employer.

Employers are required to provide this notice to all current employees by October 1, 2013, and to each new employee at the time of hire beginning October 1, 2013, regardless of plan enrollment status.

The Department of Labor has provided employers with 2 sample notices they may use to comply with this rule - 1 for employers who don't offer a health plan, and another for employers who do offer a health plan for some/all employees.

Please see the following website for these sample notification letters - http://www.sba.gov/content/employers-with-fewer-25-employees - so you can choose the correct one to use for notifying your employees, as applicable.

We hope you find this information helpful.  Thank you again for having us be your CPA!

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