An exchange coverage notice must include -

• information about the existence of the exchange, including a description of the services provided by the exchange and how to contact the exchange;

• a statement that the employee may be eligible for subsidized exchange coverage (i.e., premium tax credit under Internal Revenue Code § 36B), if the employee obtains coverage through the exchange and the employer’s plan fails to meet a 60% minimum value; and

• a statement that the employee may lose the employer contribution (if any)  toward the cost of employer coverage (all or a portion of which may be excludable from income for Federal income tax purposes) if the employee obtains coverage through the exchange.

DOL created two model exchange coverage notices: one for employers who do not offer a health plan and the other for employers who do offer a health plan for some or all employees.

The exchange coverage notice must be provided to each employee regardless of the employee’s status as full- or part-time and regardless of whether the employee participates in the employer’s group health plan. In addition to providing the exchange coverage notice to those employed before October 1, 2013, employers must provide the notice to each new employee (again, regardless of status) hired on or after October 1, 2013 within 14 days of hire.

DOL also modified and reissued its model COBRA election notice to include information about the availability of exchange coverage options and eliminate certain obsolete language in the earlier model. A copy of the new model COBRA election notice is available on the DOL’s COBRA webpage

But you feel like there’s something you’re forgetting. And there just might be! Have you looked into commercial insurance?

Commercial insurance is not a frill. It’s something that you are going to absolutely need.

Here are the steps you will need to take in order to ensure you get the coverage you and your business need but don’t overpay.

The first thing you will need to do is assess your risks. Insurance underwriters will look at your individual business as well as the industry in general and come up determine the level of risk involved with your business.

Next, they will decide whether or not they will cover your commercial enterprise, and if they will, what amount of premiums are required in order for them to do so.

Each policy has two parts to it.

The first part is the premium, which is Insurance-ese for the amount of money you will provide to the insurance company. Premiums are determined by complicated calculations which are designed to figure risk factors such as where your business is located, proximity to fire and police protection services, the type of building your business is in, and what kind of insurance you are buying.

The second part is the deductible, which is the amount of money you will be required to pay in the event that you make a claim. For example, if you choose a $1,000 deductible, and a claim is made for $5,000, your business pays $1,000 and the insurance company will pay $4,000.

Usually, the higher the deductible you opt to pay, the lower your premium will be.

When deciding whether to choose a high or a low deductible, you first need to look at whether you can afford the deductible. Given that the purpose of insurance is to return you to where you were before the incident which triggers the claim, you will need to choose a balance between what your business can afford without endangering its existence against what your business can afford to pay monthly.

As always, you will do well to discuss your position and choices with a qualified insurance professional.

For 2013:

PREVENTIVE HEALTH BENEFITS FOR WOMEN – If your plan is a non-grandfathered plan that has not already made this change, you will need to make this change as of the first day of the first plan year after August 1, 2012. The ACA requires that the preventive benefits for women listed here at are paid with no cost-sharing to the member if a network provider is utilized.

RESTRICTED ANNUAL LIMITS – For plan years beginning September 23, 2012 to January 1, 2014, the plan can have an annual dollar limit on essential benefits of no less than $2 million. After January 1, 2014, the plan cannot have any annual or lifetime dollar limit on essential benefits. However, a plan can have annual or lifetime dollar limits on non-essential benefits.

SUMMARY EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS AND COVERAGE (SBC) – If your plan has not already met the new SBC requirement, you will need to provide an SBC for each benefit option to your plan members. The SBC must be provided at all enrollment opportunities and upon request by the member. If you make any material modification to the Plan that will affect the terms listed in the SBC, you must provide 60 days advance notice to plan members of the change.

HEALTH FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT – The salary reduction limit for any health flexible spending plan has been limited to $2,500 per calendar year beginning January 1, 2013.

W-2 REPORTING – The value of all health benefits provided to your employees must be reported to them on their 2012 W-2 form in Box 12 DD. The value includes the employer and the employee paid portion of the premium and includes any employer contributions to a health flexible spending account, on-site clinic, or health reimbursement arrangement. Employers that filed less than 250 W-2s for the 2011 taxable year are exempt from this requirement in 2012.

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF STATE EXCHANGES – ACA requires that employers notify their employees of the availability of the State Exchanges at the time of hiring or for current employees, no later than March 1, 2013. However, the DOL delayed the timing for distribution of this notice until late summer or fall of 2013 to coincide with open enrollment for the State Exchanges. Model notice language is expected.

PATIENT CENTERED OUTCOME RESEARCH (PCOR) FEE – For Plan years ending on or after October 1, 2012, the Plan Sponsor is required to report the average number of covered lives for the prior plan year on IRS Form 720. The Form 720 along with the payment is due by July 31 of the immediately following calendar year. For example, for a plan year ending June 30, 2013, the Form 720 must be filed by July 31, 2014. The fee may not be paid from plan assets. For the plan year ending before October 1, 2013, the fee is $1 multiplied by the average number of covered lives. Beginning for plan years ending before October 1, 2014, the fee is $2 multiplied by the average number of covered lives. Subsequent amounts will be determined based on health care cost increases. This fee will no longer apply for plan years ending after October 1, 2019.

PLAN EDI CERTIFICATION – the Plan is required to certify with HHS its, or its designee’s, compliance with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards and operating rules as required by the HIPAA rules no later than December 31, 2013.

2014

PLAN CHANGES – For the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2014, the plan must be amended to comply with additional ACA requirements. No annual or lifetime dollar limits will be allowed on essential health benefits of all plans (including grandfathered plans). No pre-existing condition exclusions will be allowed for any plan member on all plans. No plan may have a waiting period of more than 90 days for full-time employees. Non-grandfathered plans must allow for payment of the routine medical costs for plan members participating in a clinical trial.

INDIVIDUAL COVERAGE MANDATE – All individuals who file a tax return for the tax year 2014 are required to maintain minimum essential health coverage. If the individual cannot prove coverage, he/she will incur a penalty. For tax year 2014, the penalty for an individual is the greater of 1% of income or $95. The penalty amount increases for subsequent tax years and applies to all individuals in a household who cannot prove coverage.

DEPENDENT COVERAGE TO AGE 26 – All plans will be required to provide coverage for all dependents up to age 26 without regard to the availability of other employer-sponsored coverage for the dependent.

PCOR FEE – Beginning for the plan year ending on or after October 1, 2013, the fee imposed on Plan Sponsors increases to $2 multiplied by the number of lives covered during the prior plan year.

WELLNESS PENALTY/REWARD EXPANSION – Beginning January 1, 2014, a Plan may impose a penalty/reward for reaching the goals of a health-contingent wellness plan of 30% of the total cost of coverage (an increase from the prior limit of 20%). A reward/penalty of an additional 20% is allowed for incentives to prevent tobacco use.

TEMPORARY REINSURANCE FEE – This fee is estimated at $5.25 per month per covered life ($63.00 per year) but may be adjusted. States may impose an additional amount on non-ERISA plans. The number of covered lives will be determined using the first nine months of the year and annualizing that number. Plans must report the number of covered lives to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) annually, by November 15th, beginning November 15, 2014. HHS will notify the plan of the reinsurance contribution amount due. Payment is due within 30 days of the notification and no later than January 15 of the following year. The Plan Sponsor is liable for payment and may use plan assets. A Third Party Administrator may be used to transfer contributions on behalf of self-insured plans. This fee applies to major medical plans including retiree plans for retirees under age 65.

EMPLOYER SHARED RESPONSIBILITY (“PAY OR PLAY”) RULE – A new IRC §6056 Information Return must be filed by employers subject to the Pay or Play rules (“applicable employers”). Applicable employers employ an average of 50 or more full-time (FT) and “full time equivalent” (FTE) employees in the prior calendar year (see below for a discussion on how to determine the number of FTE employees). The Information Return requires detailed information about the employer’s group health plan, the number of employees, monthly premium and the employer’s share of total allowed costs of benefits under the plan. A written statement must also be provided to full time employees identified in the Information Return by January 31st of the following year.

The Pay or Play penalty will be imposed on employers that do not offer an eligible, minimum value health plan or, if they offer an eligible plan, the plan is unaffordable to all full time employees (one or more employees qualifies for a subsidy to purchase coverage on the State Exchange). This penalty is not tax deductible. The basic penalty structure for employers is as follows:

If all full-time employees (those working an average of 30 or more hours per week) and their dependents (as defined by IRC Section 152(f)(1), not including spouses) are offered coverage in a minimum value health plan and the cost of coverage to the employee is not more than 9.5% of the employee’s household income for the year, no penalty will apply. The IRS provides a special safe harbor to allow the employer to use the employee’s W-2 earnings or the employee’s rate of pay to assess the affordability of the coverage, since the employee’s total household income is not usually known by the employer.

The “minimum value” requirement is satisfied if the plan’s share of total allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan is more than 60 percent of the costs. HHS and the IRS plan to release a “minimum value calculator” and several design-based safe harbors in the form of checklists that may be used to make the “minimum value” determination. The plan may also use an actuary to make the determination. Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions by the employer may be taken into account in establishing the value of the health plan.

DETERMINING A FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE – Regulations have been released on methods to determine the employer’s number of full-time employees. In general, a full-time employee is considered to be one who works an average of 30 hours per week. Several categories of employees are contemplated; ongoing employees (those who have been employed for at least one complete standard measurement period), new employees expected to work full-time hours, new variable hour employees and new seasonal employees. Special rules apply for educational institutions, special unpaid leave, transportation employees, commission employees, and breaks in service.

Three defined time periods have been defined in the safe harbor rules for determining full-time status:

• Measurement period means a period of 3-12 months in which hours are calculated. There is a “standard” measurement period for ongoing employees and an “initial” measurement period for new variable hour employees. The agencies provided a transitional rule for the first “standard” measurement period for ongoing employees. The transitional rule permits employers to use a period of at least 6 months beginning no later than July 1, 2013, to determine coverage for the first stability period which may be longer than this first measurement period.

• Stability period means a period in which the employee’s status of full-time or part-time is locked in. For example, if the employee is determined to be a full-time employee during the measurement period, the employee must be offered coverage during the subsequent stability period, even if the employee’s hours decrease. The permissible length varies but it must be the same length for new variable hour and ongoing employees.

• Administrative period means a period after the measurement period and before the stability period for employers to determine full-time status and offer enrollment to eligible full-time employees. The maximum length is 90 days but, for new variable hour employees, the initial measurement period and the administrative period cannot extend beyond the last day of the first calendar month on or after the one year anniversary of the new variable employee’s hire date.

PLAN OFFERED BY EMPLOYER

ANNUAL PENALTY

No eligible plan and at least one FT employee enrolls for the exchange subsidy

$2,000 x all FT employees-30

Eligible plan and at least one FT employee enrolls for the exchange subsidy

Lesser of $2,000 x all FT employees – 30 or $3,000 x FT employees enrolled for subsidized exchange coverage

Eligible Plan providing “minimum value” and “affordable” to all FT employees

No penalty

The plan might consider amending plan language to change the definition of a full-time employee to include those that work 30 or more hours per week. The eligibility requirements for dependents should also be reviewed to ensure all required dependents are offered coverage.

Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming changes in 2014. With careful planning and consideration, the group health plan can avoid altogether or significantly limit the application of the Pay or Play penalties and continue to provide valuable benefits to its members. The plan will need to take necessary steps to comply with the plan changes, new notice and reporting requirements, the new fees and penalties imposed on health plans and the identification of full-time employees. EBMS is prepared to assist the plan to ensure its compliance with all necessary adjustments. We believe self-funding will continue to thrive as employers want to attract valuable employees and have control over the benefit options they offer. More information and learning opportunities will be forthcoming. If you run a business in Alaska and you have any questions, call an Account Manager at Brown agency or click here to contact us. Brown Agency is here to help you through your upcoming ACA compliance issues or any Alaska Business Insurance needs.

Minimum essential coverage is defined as:

• Coverage under certain government-sponsored plans
• Employer-sponsored plans, with respect to any employee
• Plans in the individual market,
• Grandfathered health plans; and
• Any other health benefits coverage, such as a state health benefits risk pool, as recognized by the HHS Secretary.

Minimum essential coverage does not include health insurance coverage consisting of excepted
benefits, such as dental-only coverage.

Essential health benefits are required to be offered by certain plans starting in 2014 as a component of the essential health benefit package.  They are also the benefits that are subject to the annual and lifetime dollar limit requirements.

This is different than minimum essential coverage, which refers to the coverage needed to avoid the individual mandate penalty.  Coverage does not have to include essential benefits to be minimum essential coverage.

The penalty for noncompliance is the greater of:

• For 2014, $95 per uninsured person or 1 percent of household income over the filing threshold,
• For 2015, $325 per uninsured person or 2 percent of household income over the filing threshold, and
• For 2016 and beyond, $695 per uninsured person or 2.5 percent of household income over the filing threshold.

There is a family cap on the flat dollar amount (but not the percentage of income test) of 300 percent, and the overall penalty is capped at the national average premium of a bronze level plan purchases through an exchange.  For individuals under 18 years old, the applicable per person penalty is one-half of the amounts listed above.

Beginning in 2017, the penalties will be increased by the cost-of-living adjustment.

Who will be exempt from the mandate?

Individuals who have a religious exemption, those not lawfully present in the United States, and incarcerated individuals are exempt from the minimum essential coverage requirement.

Are there other exceptions to when the penalty may apply?

Yes.  A penalty will not be assessed on individuals who:

1. cannot afford coverage based on formulas contained in the law,
2. have income below the federal income tax filing threshold,
3. are members of Indian tribes,
4. were uninsured for short coverage gaps of less than three months;
5. have received a hardship waiver from the Secretary, or are residing outside of the United States, or are bona fide residents of any possession of the United States

To get additional information on the Affordable Care Act go to http://www.healthcare.gov/index.html

7 things you can do to get ready now

1. Learn about different types of health insurance. Through the Marketplace, you’ll be able to choose a health plan that gives you the right balance of costs and coverage.
2. Make a list of questions you have before it’s time to choose your health plan. For example, “Can I stay with my current doctor?” or “Will this plan cover my health costs when I’m traveling?”
3. Make sure you understand how insurance works, including deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, copayments, etc. You’ll want to consider these details while you’re shopping around. Visit Insurance Basics to learn more about how insurance works.
4. Start gathering basic information about your household income. Most people will qualify to get a break on costs, and you’ll need income information to find out how much you’re eligible for.
5. Set your budget. There will be different types of health plans to meet a variety of needs and budgets, and breaking them down by cost can help narrow your choices.
6. Find out from your employer whether they plan to offer health insurance, especially if you work for a small business.
7. Explore current options. You may be able to get help with insurance now, through existing programs or changes that are in effect already from the new health care law. Use our resources to get information about health insurance for adults up to age 26, children in families with limited incomes (CHIP), and Medicare for people who are over 65 or have disabilities.

Creates state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchanges, administered by a governmental agency or non-profit organization, through which individuals and small businesses with up to 100 employees can purchase qualified coverage. Exchanges will have a single form for applying for health programs, including coverage through the Exchanges and Medicaid and CHIP programs.

• Guaranteed Availability of Insurance

Requires guarantee issue and renewability of health insurance regardless of health status and allows rating variation based only on age (limited to a 3 to 1 ratio), geographic area, family composition, and tobacco use (limited to 1.5. to 1 ratio) in the individual and the small group market and the Exchanges.

• Essential Health Benefits

Creates an essential health benefits package that provides a comprehensive set of services, limiting annual cost-sharing to the Health Savings Account limits ($5,950/individual and $11,900/family in 2010). Creates four categories of plans to be offered through the Exchanges, and in the individual and small group markets, varying based on the proportion of plan benefits they cover.

• Basic Health Plan

Permits states the option to create a Basic Health Plan for uninsured individuals with incomes between 133-200% FPL who would otherwise be eligible to receive premium subsidies in the Exchange.

• Employer Requirements

Assesses a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees, on employers with more than 50 employees that do not offer coverage and have at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit. Employers with more than 50 employees that offer coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit, will pay the lesser of $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit or $2,000 for each full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees.

• Individual Mandate

The Affordable Care Act includes a mandate for most individuals to have health insurance or potentially pay a penalty for noncompliance. Individuals will be required to maintain minimum essential coverage for themselves and their dependents. Some individuals will be exempt from the mandate or the penalty, while others may be given financial assistance to help them pay for the cost of health insurance

• Tax credits

Tax credits to help the middle class afford insurance will become available for those with income between 100% and 400% of the poverty line who are not eligible for other affordable coverage. (In 2010, 400% of the poverty line comes out to about $43,000 for an individual or $88,000 for a family of four.) The tax credit is advanceable, so it can lower your premium payments each month, rather than making you wait for tax time. It’s also refundable, so even moderate income families can receive the full benefit of the credit.  These individuals may also qualify for reduced cost-sharing (copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles).

As a matter of fact, many disasters may not be covered at all.

Generally speaking, your property insurance will cover you from a loss of a common risk like an accident, vandalism, or theft.  Fire is normally covered under you property insurance. But flooding may not be.  In fact, even disaster insurance may not cover flooding.  Talk to your agent regarding damage from flooding, winding, and other natural disasters.

In the world of insurance today, there are various packages available to cover a multitude of risks.  The key is to maximize coverage without duplication.  Work with your licensed insurance professional, your commercial insurance agent to figure out specifically what coverage is needed to protect your business property.

Get together with your agent or broker and determine what coverage and risk your particular business could face.  You’ll need to compare policy coverage, premiums, risks, deductibles, and many factors in selecting your final property insurance coverage.

Like many business people, after weighing the options, you’ll want to choose the most coverage you can afford.  Obviously, get the coverage in place as most likely to least likely if affordability is an issue.  Even with disaster insurance, look at the details of the policy and coverage options.

It’s also important to remember the effect of any type of disaster.  Loss of income insurance should be discussed.  Often, we forget about the down time a disaster will bring to the business.  Loss of income insurance can cover the liabilities and owner’s income while reopening the business after a disaster.  Check with your agent about this important coverage.  Often, it is added as an option and sold as a separate policy.

Finally, you should also consider all the coverage with one insurance company.  Generally, multiple policies are afforded discounts whether personal or business insurance.  Do not hesitate to ask your licensed insurance professional if discounts are available.

Individual mandate for health care coverage

Beginning in calendar year 2014, individuals will be responsible for obtaining “minimum essential coverage” for themselves and their dependents, or pay a penalty. This can be met in any of the following ways:

• Enrollment in a government program such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
• Purchasing insurance offered by your employer
• Purchasing insurance through a state exchange 
• Purchasing insurance directly from an insurer in the individual market

Individuals whose employers don’t offer minimum essential coverage and whose household incomes are 133–400 percent of the federal poverty level federal subsidies to help them pay their insurance premiums or cost sharing obligations (e.g., co-insurance or co-payments) under a plan they purchase through a state exchange.

Individuals who do not obtain or retain qualifying health care coverage will be required to pay a penalty as part of their income tax returns. In 2014, the penalty is $95 or 1 percent of the individual’s income, whichever is greater. By 2016, it increases to $695 or 2.5 percent of income. For families, the maximum penalty is three times the per-person flat-dollar penalty. The penalty for dependent children without coverage is half the cost of the individual flat-dollar penalty (e.g., $47.50 in 2014).

Employers are not mandated to cover employees

Although it mandates individuals be covered, the new law does not require employers to offer health insurance coverage to their employees. However, for “large employers” (those with 50 or more full-time equivalents the law imposes a nondeductible penalty if any of their full-time employees qualify for and receive federal subsidies.

There is no penalty for employers who have fewer than 50 FTEs. But in order to encourage small employers to provide insurance coverage to their employees, small business tax credits are available to help offset the employer contribution toward employee premiums.

Calculating the employer penalty

The large employer penalty is assessed differently depending upon whether an employer offers minimum essential coverage or not.

Large employers not offering coverage

In general, large employers who do not offer coverage will pay a penalty if one or more of their full-time employees are eligible for federal subsidies. The calculation:

Large employers offering sponsored health coverage

Large employers who offer employer-sponsored health coverage (meeting the definition of minimum essential coverage ) to their employees and have one or more employees eligible for federal subsidies will pay the lesser of:

Free choice vouchers alternative

All employers, regardless of the number of employees, who offer minimum essential coverage and make a contribution toward that coverage, must also provide “free choice vouchers” to employees who meet all of the following criteria:

• Household income is less than 400 percent FPL;
• Employee contribution for coverage under the employer plan is between 8 and 9.8 percent of their household income; and
• Employee and their family, if applicable, are not enrolled in the employer plan.

Free choice vouchers are basically the monthly equivalent of the largest contribution amount the employer would have paid were the employee enrolled in the employer-sponsored health plan. Employees can use these vouchers to buy coverage through the state exchange. These employees are not eligible for federal subsidies; therefore, they are not counted in the calculation of any penalty the employer might have to pay.

­Bottom line: should employers offer health coverage?

The reform law adds a new set of considerations to a business’s decisio­n-making process around offering employee health benefits: Employers will need to estimate and plan for the potential costs they could incur for offering and contributing to health insurance coverage, including outlays for free choice vouchers, if applicable.

They must also consider the penalty for low-income workers who will be eligible for federal subsidies. This will be difficult since employers have no way of knowing what their employees’ household incomes are or how many people are in their household. While businesses will want to determine if the coverage they offer meets the definition of minimum essential coverage, this will be impossible, because the only factor they can control is assuring the plan benefits they offer have at least a 60 percent actuarial value. Employers have no way of knowing if their plan is “affordable” for their employees, because they won’t know their household incomes. Given this conundrum, employers will be unable to take action to reduce or eliminate risk of penalty.

Although these requirements don’t take effect until January 1, 2014, employers understandably want to get a handle on the implications for their business now. Whether or not they decide to continue offering health insurance will be solely a financial decision for some, but for others, it will be a mixture of their mission, the cost, and their ability to hire and retain staff. Unfortunately, many questions remain about how these provisions will be implemented. In the coming months, it will be critical for employers to stay abreast of and provide input on the regulations for implementing these provisions, in hopes that they have enough information to guide their employees and their business’s planning and budgeting for these benefits.

As an example, we have a 45 year old married male with two children, ages 5 and 10. He has 10 years left to pay off his mortgage. Looking at his needs, we see his insurance needs as the following:

• Ages 45-55 – $2 million to replace his income, cover the mortgage, college costs and final expenses.
• Ages 55-65 – $1 million to replace income, cover college costs and final expenses.
• Ages 65-75 – $500,000 to replace income (or pension) and final expenses.

Typically, he might look at these options;

• He could purchase a $2 million permanent policy but the premiums are cost prohibitive;
• He could purchase a $2 million 30 year term policy, but the premium might still be more than he wants to spend;
• He could purchase a $2 million 10 year term policy and plan to purchase an additional policy in 10 years but he might not be insurable at that time or;
• He could purchase a $500,000 30 year term policy but that would leave him under insured for the first 20 years.

Here’s where layering can come in handy. I would recommend:

• A $1 million 10 year term policy and;
• A $500,000 20 year term policy and;
• A $500,000 30 year term policy.

This would give him $2 million for the first 10 years, $1 million for the next 10 years and $500,000 for the next 10 years.

As you can see above, this would provide the right amount of coverage at the lowest possible premium. We don’t recommend this for everybody, but in the right situation, it saves the client money while giving him adequate coverage

1.    Do I need to get health insurance?

If your annual income is less than $9,350, or household income is less than $18,700, you won’t be required to get health insurance in 2014. You’re also exempt if you have to pay more than 8% of your annual income toward health insurance premiums.

If none of these exemptions apply, then you’ll be required to get health insurance under the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, starting January 1, 2014.

2.    What happens if I don’t get health insurance?

The 2014 penalties for not having health insurance are as follows: $95 per adult, $47.50 per child, up to $285 per family, or 1% of the annual family income, whichever is greater.

The penalties go up significantly each year, and starting in 2016 the penalties are $695 per adult, $347.50 per child, up to a maximum of $2,085 per family, or 2.5% of family income, whichever is greater.

3.    How can I get health insurance?

There are many different ways to get coverage: through your employer, your spouse (if he/she is covered by their employer), your parents (if you’re under the age of 26), or on your own by purchasing individual health insurance for yourself and your family if applicable. There will be several places where you’ll be able to purchase individual health insurance, such as public exchanges that each state will make available, or through a number of private health brokers like Brown Agency www.brownak.com .

Enrollment will start on Oct 1, 2013, and coverage will start on Jan 1, 2014.

4.    Is my employer required to provide health insurance coverage?

If your employer has fewer than 50 full-time employees (a full-time employee is someone who works more than 30 hours per week on average), your employer doesn’t have to offer health insurance to employees.

This is a good time to talk with your employer about whether they expect to provide coverage or not, so you can be prepared for 2014.

5.    I can’t afford health insurance. What are my options?

You may qualify for a tax subsidy if your household income falls within 133-400% of the federal poverty level.