Entrepreneurs are usually very skilled at figuring out how to create opportunities out of even the most dire of circumstances.
Entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are usually very skilled at figuring out how to create opportunities out of even the most dire of circumstances. They regard health care reform no differently.
Now that the dust has settled on this new legislation and employers are waiting to see what else transpires between now and 2014, let me shed a little perspective on how small business owners and entrepreneurs are planning to comply with the reforms. Interestingly, the people that will feel the brunt of this impact are the employees, not the employers.
OVER 50 EMPLOYEES
Businesses with over 50 employees will be subject to a penalty of over $2,000 per year for not covering their employees. This is steep, and amounts to a 5% increase in labor costs for an employee that makes $40,000/year. In a recession in which double-digit percent margins have almost become extinct, how will these businesses survive such an increase?
The answer is quite simple. The objective is to render the increased health care costs neutral to the firm’s overall labor cost structure. I have heard many employers that will be impacted by this explain that it will have to be the employees who pay for it, primarily through wage and other benefit decreases. So, it ultimately comes out of the employee’s pocket, not the employer.
UNDER 50 EMPLOYEES
Although businesses with fewer than 50 employees will not be subject to a penalty in 2014, they will be eligible for significant
ONE-SIDED EFFECT
My point is that the average hard-working American will pay for this health care reform, not businesses. We will see wages and other benefits decrease to offset the costs of health care. I doubt this is the result legislators wanted, but it will certainly be the reality.
WILL PUTTING THE BURDEN ON EMPLOYERS WORK?
There are two common reasons these employers are not offering health insurance. First, their industry’s business model does not have enough room in it. Second, the employees do not value health insurance offerings from their employers.
By forcing employers who have operated their businesses without offering health care to their employees, this legislation is trying to tinker with proven business models and employee compensation packages that were not broken. As we approach 2014, most businesses will prepare for implementing health care reform by “tweaking” their overall compensation programs to create a zero-sum result for the company rather than trying to absorb the costs into their business model with no additional value perceived by their employees.