Obama Health Care Plan Will Spark Changes to Businesses
By: Bejoy Joseph
Updated: February 19, 2013
WHAG- President Obama's new healthcare plan will soon affect all of us, including local businesses in our area.
Businesses will now have to make decisions whether to provide insurance to their employees starting next year. But one medical professional says the new Obama healthcare plan is designed to provide affordable health insurance options for working Americans.
"Businesses of a certain size will be faced with helping their employees with the mandate," says Joe Ross, Meritus Medical Center. "They will be faced with a series of choices; of continuing to get their health insurance the traditional way through a broker relationship or through the exchanges."
Ross says business organizations that do not provide insurance for their employees will be hit with a payroll tax that will start in 2014. Ross explained to avoid the tax businesses can seek out and buy insurance in the private market.
"They can fund their employees access to the exchanges. What I recommend to most businesses is to seek out a good broker and have the discussion with a good insurance professional," says Ross.
Ross says the new healthcare plan aims to provide millions of working Americans with quality insurance.
"We begin to shift from paying for volume and procedures, to paying for quality and outcome. We have a great data system today that will allow us to not only measure care, but reward better care," says Ross.
However, there is one downfall. Ross says businesses will have a new expense. That raises one major question, how will it impact our economy? Ross says time will only tell.
The healthcare discussion was part of a Hagerstown-Washington County chamber of commerce event.
Businesses will now have to make decisions whether to provide insurance to their employees starting next year. But one medical professional says the new Obama healthcare plan is designed to provide affordable health insurance options for working Americans.
"Businesses of a certain size will be faced with helping their employees with the mandate," says Joe Ross, Meritus Medical Center. "They will be faced with a series of choices; of continuing to get their health insurance the traditional way through a broker relationship or through the exchanges."
Ross says business organizations that do not provide insurance for their employees will be hit with a payroll tax that will start in 2014. Ross explained to avoid the tax businesses can seek out and buy insurance in the private market.
"They can fund their employees access to the exchanges. What I recommend to most businesses is to seek out a good broker and have the discussion with a good insurance professional," says Ross.
Ross says the new healthcare plan aims to provide millions of working Americans with quality insurance.
"We begin to shift from paying for volume and procedures, to paying for quality and outcome. We have a great data system today that will allow us to not only measure care, but reward better care," says Ross.
However, there is one downfall. Ross says businesses will have a new expense. That raises one major question, how will it impact our economy? Ross says time will only tell.
The healthcare discussion was part of a Hagerstown-Washington County chamber of commerce event.
