Much ink has been spilled about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but now that it is going into effect business owners are wondering what it really means for them.   Here is the ACA in a nutshell:

-       if you have less than fifty full-time employees, you don’t have to provide your employees with health insurance

-       if you are a small business and you provide your employees with health insurance, you may qualify for an increased tax credit of up to 50% of your contribution to their premium

-       if you currently have an insurance plan for your employees and it has been in place since 2010, it may be “grandfathered” and be subject to fewer coverage requirements under the ACA

-       if you are on the market for a new plan, the plan you choose must guarantee coverage regardless of health status, and must allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plan until age 26

-       if you have fewer than 100 employees you may be eligible for a grant to start a workplace wellness program

The ACA is a complex and new area of law, but there are many resources out there to help business owners.  A good starting place is here: http://www.healthcare.gov/using-insurance/employers/small-business/index.html.

The constitutionality of the individual mandate, which is the heart of the 2010 federal health care reform law, is currently facing tough scrutiny by the justices of the Supreme Court. On day 2 of oral arguments, the government faced challenging questions about its authority to require all Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014. Commentators report that only the Court’s four liberal justices – Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor and Breyer – seemed supportive of the law, while the other five justices ranged from skeptical to outright opposed to the mandate. Since five votes are required for a majority ruling on the Court, the future of the individual mandate appears to be in jeopardy based on today’s arguments. The final day of arguments is tomorrow, and the Court is expected to produce an opinion on the case by late June.