Colorado Business Group on Health

Making Health Reform a Reality for You: Small Business Tax Credits

One of the most important benefits in the new law is relief for small businesses from the high cost of providing care. Small businesses are saddled with especially high costs when it comes to providing care for their employees. On average, their premiums are 18 percent higher than large businesses for the same coverage. The new health insurance reform law helps make coverage more affordable for small businesses so they can provide health care for their workers. Effective immediately, millions of small businesses are eligible to receive a tax credit to cover up to 35 percent of premiums. In 2014, the credit will increase to 50 percent, saving businesses $40 billion by 2019.

Have questions on what the new health insurance reform law means for you?

On Thursday, the White House’s top health care expert will answer your questions in a live webchat as part of our weekly series on health reform. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform will join HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a discussion on how the new law will increase your health security and what it means for you and your family.

Join us at 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday, April 15th at http://www.hhs.gov/live. You can send your questions to .

We will also take questions live via Twitter during the webchat. You can find us on Twitter at @HHSGov. We’ll answer as many questions as we can during the webchat and will answer more on the “Your Questions Answered” section of our website, Healthreform.gov.

If you missed our previous webchats on how the new health insurance reform law will impact small businesses and seniors, you can still see them on demand on HHS’ YouTube channel. Don’t forget to send us your questions and join us Thursday at 4 p.m. EDT at http://www.hhs.gov/live.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Jenny Backus
Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Moderator of the HHS Weekly Webchat

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today issued regulations establishing the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program in the Affordable Care Act.  This temporary program will make it easier for employers to provide coverage to early retirees.

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The Affordable Care Act Gives Young Adults Greater Control Over Their Own Health Care. An FAQ from the White House website.

The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance on how tax-free health insurance coverage under the health reform law should be provided for employees’ children who are under 27 years of age.   Click here to IRS Notice 2010-38.

On April 20th Governor Bill Ritter began enacting national healthcare reform in Colorado, issuing an executive order that names a director of implementation and creates a new inter-agency task force. The Governor also signed into law four bills that will enhance the state’s nationally recognized health reform initiatives.