by Ron Lang, CEO of CalCPA Health
This time of the year, with most firms renewing their employee benefit plans, there is a big uptick in questions regarding managing health plans. For CalCPA members, CalCPA Health is an available resource; our tag line is “we answer questions for your firm, your clients and your family” (or at least try to answer anyway).
Health plans are a unique blend of Internal Revenue Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, California Department of Insurance, and other California agencies regulations. Buried in each of these, is the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) code. Because of this complexity and liability, when providing answers and insights we always must disclose that we do not provide tax or legal advice (lol).
The new California Law, SB 1375, was signed by Governor Brown on September 22, 2018 and will affect many small firm’s group health insurance. SB 1375 changes the Health Insurance Code to reclassify certain small employer groups as individuals. The affected firms will have to obtain individual health insurance in 2019, rather than the small employer group plans they currently have. Individual health insurance is typically more expensive with less provider network and benefit plan choices than small group plan offerings.