In the often-oversimplified world of contractor-based employment, the Affordable Care Act is a blessing in disguise: “employees” can readily obtain health care with the financial burden falling off the “employer.” …
Health Care Coverage
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Health Care CoveragePolls/Surveys
High Deductibles Don’t Promote Price Shopping
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWill consumers make more cost-effective choices of health services and doctors if they are spending their own money? Common sense suggests they would, but researchers have found that consumers don’t …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageRegulations
Is Individual Shared Responsibility Your Responsibility?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenSince the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the goal in mind is to ensure that every American has received or has been given access to adequate health coverage. While …
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Health Care CoverageTax Filings
Health Coverage Information Returns: A Key Date Calendar
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile many if not most of the 2015 tax season deadlines have already passed, some information-filing deadlines are steadily approaching. Some have been already been extended, including the deadline for …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageMedicaid/Medicare
Health Crisis Likely in Miami-Dade
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAccess to health care is more than just ordinary preventative care and occasional treatment: it’s also preventing a health crisis. As Florida’s Miami-Dade County sees large numbers of its residents …
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Health Care Coverage
New Updates To Premium Tax Credit Affect Personal Contributions
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen it comes to the Premium Tax Credit, it’s a matter of numbers. The credit was designed for low to moderate-income individuals and families in an effort to assist them …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Health Care Careers More Desirable Thanks To Affordable Care Act
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOne of the greatest achievements of the Obama Administration was slashing the unemployment rate and creating tens of millions of jobs for Americans. In a recently released job report, jobs …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit: A Checklist
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Small Business Health Care Tax Credit was designed for small business owners with 25 of fewer full-time employees and equivalents in an effort to provide health care coverage for …
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Health Care Coverage
Congressional Budget Office Releases 10-Year Health Care Breakdown For Citizens 65 And Under
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released a report, detailing a ten-year plan on Health Insurance for those 65 and under from 2016 through 2026. The 40-page report discusses the …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Health Benefits Offer Rates: Fact And Figures
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Kaiser Family Foundation released a report that detailed the rates of health benefits offered to individuals. In 1999, 66% of firms offered health benefits to their employees, and that …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Insurance Marketplace
Do You Have Minimum Essential Coverage?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenUnder the Affordable Care Act, individuals and families are generally required to have minimum essential coverage in order to avoid year-end penalties or shared responsibility payments. This coverage can be …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageUninsured
The Surprising Reason Why Minority Children Are Less Likely To Have Health Care
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPrior to the Affordable Care Act, programs like Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) were already in place to provide health coverage for underprivileged youth. However, a significant gap …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageRegulations
Is Individual Shared Responsibility Your Responsibility?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenSince the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the goal in mind is to ensure that every American has received or has been given access to adequate health coverage. While …
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Affordable Care ActApplicable Large Employer (ALE)Health Care CoverageTax Filings
Quick Tips: Managing Your Health Insurance Docs
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs you prepare your 2015 tax return, keep in mind that new health insurance coverage documents may reach your mailbox this year that you hadn’t seen previously. As the Affordable …
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Affordable Care ActCadillac TaxHealth Care Coverage
Revisions To The ACA Continue Into 2016
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt should come as no surprise that the Affordable Care Act is still very much a work in progress. Over the course of six years, the ACA has made significant …
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When it comes to health care, many view it as a luxury rather than necessity. Health care is one “luxury,” that if given the option of having less of in …
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageLawsuits
Cutting Hours To Avoid Health Care Coverage brings Dave & Buster’s Under Legal Scrutiny
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA class action lawsuit has been filed outside of federal courts in New York against restaurant and gaming chain Dave & Buster’s. The reason? Cutting employees’ hours to duck mandatory …
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ACA ComplianceHealth Care Coverage
New Barometer: Health Network Size for Insurance Ratings
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2016 has thus far posed some significant changes in both the attitudes of citizens toward health care coverage and those required to provide it. However, looking ahead toward 2017, the …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
6 Years Later: Impacts of the ACA on Health Care?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen the Affordable Care Act was first passed in 2010, it was with the intention of providing health care coverage to all who previously couldn’t access it. It was a …
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Health Care CoverageSmall Business Health Care Tax Credit
Do You Qualify for the SHOP Tax Credit?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenSmall employers who enroll in SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program) health insurance coverage for their employees may be eligible for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, which is …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Reminder and How-To on Shared Responsibility Payments
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS issued a reminder that the Affordable Care Act requires individuals to have qualifying health care coverage, qualify for an exemption, or make a “shared responsibility payment” when filing their …
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Despite high rates of chronic disease and poor health outcomes in the American south region, only seven of the 17 states in the region have adopted the Medicaid expansion made …
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Eight states showed “statistically significant” improvements during 2015 in the percentages of their working-age populations that have health insurance, according to a federal study. The states were Arizona, California, Colorado, …
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Many Americans signing up for new health care policies are receiving an unwelcome surprise: higher deductibles. Insurance plans, whether obtained through an employer or purchased individually via Affordable Care Act …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoveragePolls/Surveys
Over 103,000 Selected Plans in Week 12
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMore than 103,000 consumers selected Affordable Care Act health insurance plans through the Healthcare.gov online marketplace during the 12th week of open enrollment, according to the “weekly snapshot report” issued …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageLegislationPolitical PartiesPolls/Surveys
Voters Say The ACA Is Not a Key Issue
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile many Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail vilify the Affordable Care Act, American voters across the country are not particularly focused on the health care law as …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageIRSRegulations
Tools for Estimating ACA Credits and Fees
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS has developed tools for individuals and employers to estimate their credits and payments related to the Affordable Care Act . The tools, available online, provide only an estimate …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
74,000 Selected Plans in Week 10
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMore than 74,200 consumers selected Affordable Care Act health care plans through the Healthcare.gov online marketplace during the tenth week of open enrollment, according to the “weekly snapshot report” issued …
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Health Care CoveragePrescription Drugs
Drug Makers Continue To Raise Prices
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenDespite criticism from patients, insurers and lawmakers, pharmaceutical companies have continued to increase the cost of drugs, with many hiking prices by 10% or more just before or after the New Year. …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Study: ACA Has No Effect on Hours Worked
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenShortly after the passage the Affordable Care Act, many economists predicted that the law would cause employers to slash workweeks to less than 30 hours, to avoid having to provide …
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Affordable Care ActApplicable Large Employer (ALE)Health Care Coverage
Are You an Applicable Large Employer?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenBecause an applicable large employer (ALE) is subject to the Affordable Care Act’s requirements for information reporting and the health law’s employer shared responsibility provisions, the IRS has provided a …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageRegulations
New Features in the SHOP Marketplace
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace, which serves small employers who want to provide health and dental coverage to their employees, has added new features for 2016. To …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageRegulations
The ACA Individual Mandate and Your Tax Return
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Affordable Care Act requires individuals, their spouses and dependents to have qualifying health care coverage for each month of the year; to qualify for a health coverage exemption; or …
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One in five (20%) working-age Americans with health insurance say problems paying medical bills often force them to work longer hours, take a second job, spend less on food, use …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageIRS
Reporting Deadlines Extended
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS has extended by almost two months the due date for providing employees with Affordable Care Act information forms, and provided an extra three months for filing the required …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Medicaid and ACA Split the GOP
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenRepublicans in Congress are finding themselves in the awkward position of arguing against the Affordable Care Act and its expansion of Medicaid coverage at the same time that Republican governors …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageIRSTax Filings
About The New ACA Information Statements
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenRecognizing that many individuals will receive new ACA information statements for the first time in 2016, the IRS issued a memo aimed at helping consumers understand the documents. The explanation …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Medical Expenses a Burden for Low-Income Insureds
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe combined costs of premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses can exceed 20% of household income for some low-income individuals who purchase health insurance through an Affordable Care Act exchange, a …
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The IRS has issued Notice 2016-02 to provide information regarding the health coverage tax credit, or HCTC. The 14-page notice explains who can claim the HCTC, the amount of the …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageTax Filings
The Information Employers Must Provide, and When
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS reminds employers that, beginning in 2016, the Affordable Care Act requires them and other providers of minimum essential coverage to report certain information about employees’ health coverage in …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
1.3 Million Sign Up in Week 6
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMore than 1.3 million consumers signed up for health coverage through the Healthcare.gov online marketplace during the sixth week of open enrollment, according to the “weekly snapshot report” issued by …
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Health Care CoverageMedicaid/Medicare
Help for Shoppers Added To HealthCare.gov
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenNew consumer shopping aids are being made available to visitors to Healthcare.gov, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced. The new Out of Pocket Cost calculator, Doctor and …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Federal Fees Cause States to Consider Own Exchanges
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe prospect of stiff new fees for using the federal Healthcare.gov online marketplace is causing several states to consider launching their own Affordable Care Act platforms, despite some previous attempts …
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Affordable Care ActCovered CaliforniaHealth Care Coverage
California Targets Neighborhoods With High Rates Of Uninsured
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenCovered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act insurance exchange, is intensifying efforts to sign people up in areas of the state that have exceptionally high numbers of uninsured residents. It …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
When Insurance Can Be Excluded From Income
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA memo from the IRS Chief Counsel clarifies when an employer’s payment for health insurance provided under a spouse’s group health plan can be excluded from the employee’s income. The …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageTax Filings
HHS Wants To Ease Exemption Claims
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to make it easier for low-income people to take advantage of the “hardship exemption” from the individual mandate of the Affordable …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
ACA Is Benefiting Minorities
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Affordable Care Act has significantly improved access to healthcare for African-Americans and Latinos, with those groups benefiting slightly more whites, according to a study published in a medical journal. …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoveragePolitical Parties
How Will The Newly Insured Vote?
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs millions of Americans have gained health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, analysts are pondering whether this change in status will have implications on how these individuals vote. …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Week 4 Plan Selections Near 395,000
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Healthcare.gov online marketplace was used by 394,732 consumers to select insurance plans during the fourth week of open enrollment, according to the “weekly snapshot report” issued by the Department …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageMedicaid/Medicare
Slower Growth in National Health Spending
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPer-capita health care spending grew by 4.5% in 2014, and overall health spending grew by 5.3%, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a slower rates of …