Online Tools to Help You Find and Price Small Business Health Care Insurance Options
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Online Tools to Help You Find and Price
Small Business Health Care Insurance Options
by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator
We all have questions about the Affordable
Care Act, whether it's deciphering facts from myths or trying to understand
what your options for health care coverage are now and in the future.
As small business owners, getting the right
information from a credible resource is critical. One new tool is the U.S.
Small Business Administration's health care web page,
www.sba.gov/healthcare,
dedicated to educating small business owners about the Affordable Care Act. The
site is a gateway for small businesses connecting them with information
provided by SBA's federal partners responsible for implementing the law,
including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS's web portal –
Healthcare.gov
– is another valuable resource that provides information and tools to help
individuals and employers understand how the Affordable Care Act will impact
them.
The site also aims to make
comparison
shopping for health insurance a whole lot easier, using basic
personalization features that help you determine plan options, pricing
information and eligibility.
Here's a breakdown of some of the tools and
features that you can find at Healthcare.gov.
Understand the Affordable Care Act as a
Small Business Owner
What does the health care law mean to you?
Check out these resources that explain the
key provisions of the law
plus an overview of
what is changing and when.
For a clear overview of how the law impacts
small businesses, the
Small Businesses
and the Affordable Care Act guide breaks down the top things you
need to know, including information about the following:
-
The
Small
Business Tax Credit and your eligibility to claim it.
-
Affordable Insurance Marketplaces,
known as the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), will open on
January 1, 2014 and give small employers buying power—similar to what
large businesses have to get better choices and lower prices. The SHOP
Marketplaces will work with new insurance reforms and tax credits provided
by the Affordable Care Act to help lower barriers to offering health
insurance that small employers face. Visit Healthcare.gov's small business
landing
page for the latest information on SHOP, and review the
get-ready
checklist for small business owners.
Enrollment in SHOP begins on October 1, 2013.
This useful
Small Business
Q&A also helps you understand your rights and responsibilities
as a small business owner.
Find Healthcare Insurance Options for Your
Small Business
Looking for insurance for yourself or your
employees? Healthcare.gov's
Insurance Finder organizes
and presents information and pricing collected from insurers to help you better
understand your options. Enter some basic data and the tool will filter your
options accordingly.
Assess and Compare Quality of Care
Healthcare.gov also lets you compare the
quality of care provided by the institutions that administer healthcare
prevention and treatment services using the
Compare Care Providers
tool.
Stay Connected
Get
ready for Marketplace enrollment on October 1st by signing up for
email and text alerts about new health insurance options and benefits at
http://www.signup.healthcare.gov.
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