10 Jan New $63 Fee Announced to Help Offset Healthcare Reform Cost

Source: openforum.com

Original article by Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar

As the regulations for Healthcare Reform are formulated and finalized, small-business owners need to be aware of a new fee that will be assessed beginning in 2014. The fee will be collected for 3 years and is set at $63 per insured person in the first year and is supposed to decline after that.

The fee is meant to help offset the cost for insurance companies as they comply with requirements to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. The fee is expected to generate $25 billion most of which will be placed in a federally administered fund and the rest will be given directly to the Treasury Department. Employers will have to pay the fee in advance on behalf of their employees. Individuals who purchase their own policies and do not participate in group policies, as many small-businesses owners do, will still be responsible for the fee.

Learn more at The Huffington Post.