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HealthPass, a New York City-based nonprofit commercial health insurance exchange for small to midsize businesses, announced that it has posted on its Website information on the just-released Internal Revenue Service final guidance on the small business health care tax credits. The small-business health care tax credit, which was created under the Affordable Care Act, is designed to encourage small businesses to offer health insurance coverage to their workers. Small employers are eligible to claim the health care tax credit beginning with the 2010 tax year.
The new guidance includes information clarifying that a broad range of employers meet the eligibility requirements, including small businesses that provide coverage through a broad range of contribution arrangements, including a choice model similar to the one HealthPass offers. Also included are a one-page form and instructions that small employers-those with 25 or fewer full-time employees-can use to claim the tax credit for 2010.
“This is great news for small employers as well as their benefit brokers, who have been waiting for these rules since the health care reform law was passed back in March,” said Vince Ashton, executive director of HealthPass. “The guidance removes some uncertainty that had surrounded the tax credit and provides much greater clarity around the requirements for small businesses to qualify for the credit. The timing is also welcome, since many small employers will begin planning for the tax season in the very near future if they haven’t already done so.”
Small employers and brokers can visit the HealthPass Website and download the toolkit, which includes the one-page tax form (Form 8941, Credit for Small Employer Health Insurance Premiums), and also the instructions for completing the form. Also available are frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the tax credit as well as a summary document with employer action items.
“Having choices of benefit design and health insurance carriers, as HealthPass offers, coupled with these tax credits can be a powerful advantage for small businesses. We are pleased to make this important information available to small employers,” said Shawn Nowicki, director of health policy at HealthPass. “As health care costs continue to increase, we encourage every small business eligible to claim this credit to apply as it is worth up to 35 percent of the employer’s cost of providing coverage to their employees.”
HealthPass enables eligible employees of small businesses and sole proprietors to choose a health care plan that fits their medical needs and budgets. More than 20 coverage options from four carriers-EmblemHealth, GHI, HIP (Health Plan of New York) and Oxford-as well as two dental plans and a bundled product offered through Guardian are available.