Health Care Reform... Approaching Fast

As an employer, are you prepared for sweeping health care reform changes scheduled to come into effect in 2014?  It's true, the Obama Administration's Health Care Reform Act is being challenged in the Supreme Court and many of those stipulations in the Act may be modified or even dropped, but many legal pundits still believe there will be plenty for employers (and employees) to contend with when the majority of the Act's aspects come into full effect in 2014.

A recent article in Workforce delves into the Health Care Reform's challenges for employers.  It's worth a look, even if you believe you are exempt from a lot of the Act's regulations because you're a small employer.  Remember, even small employers have some requirements with this piece of legislation - designed to increased health care coverage for Americans - and not meeting those requirements could cost you in the pocketbook.  So check out this article and make sure you know where you and your business stands when it comes to this important legislation.

Number of Uninsured Adults Climbs

Not surprisingly, it was reported on the website Workforce Management that the number of uninsured adults is climbing.  According to the website, 59 million adults did not have insurance for a portion of 2010, while 30 million adults did not have health insurance for at least a year.  While the numbers are staggering, they are not surprising.

With the number of unemployed, those uninsured adults will continue to stay steady.  Additionally, employers are looking at the high costs of health care premiums in this difficult economy.  No longer able to afford to pay all or even a portion of those premium costs, employers are either passing the cost into employees or eliminating their health care insurance completely.  And for those employees who find the stiff premium price tag too much to bare on their pocket books - especially with what appears to be commonplace wage/salary freezes - employees are dropping their coverage all together.