Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the healthcare and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the "Act"), which is intended to extend healthcare coverage to approximately 31 million uninsured Americans by requiring most U.S. citizens and legal residents to purchase health insurance and by subsidizing health insurance premiums for those who cannot afford coverage. The extended healthcare coverage will be financed, in part, through a series of taxes and fees, and enforced, in part, through a series of fines and penalties.

Unless the Act is amended or certain controversial elements of the Act are ruled unlawful by the courts, the following is a brief synopsis (as reported by the Congressional Budget Office, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets) of where we stand now and in the near future under the Act:

• Starting this year, small businesses will receive subsidies to provide healthcare coverage to employees. These subsidies will increase in 2014 when mandatory coverage goes into effect; businesses having 10 or fewer employees with average annual wages of less than $25,000 will receive a tax credit of up to 50% of the employer's payments toward employee premiums. Also in 2010, any lifetime caps on health coverage (frequently set between $1 million and $5 million) will be eliminated for both group and individual health plans. In addition, beginning in 2010 insurance companies will be barred from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, and children will be allowed to stay on their parents' insurance policies until their 26th birthday.
• Starting in 2011, employers will be required to disclose the cost of workers' health coverage on their W-2's. In addition, effective January 1, 2011, over-the-counter drugs will no longer be permitted to be reimbursed from a healthcare flexible spending account, health reimbursement account or health savings account, unless prescribed by a physician. Also in 2011, the pharmaceutical industry will be required to pay annual fees ($2.5 billion in 2011, rising in subsequent years), and a long-term care program will be established under which people pay premiums into the system for at least five years and are eligible to receive support payments for daily living assistance.
• Starting in 2013, the Act imposes a new Medicare tax on individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and couples filing jointly earning more than $250,000 a year. The Medicare tax on wages will increase from 1.45% to 2.35%, a new 3.8% tax on unearned income will go into effect, and an excise tax of 2.3% will be imposed on the sale of medical devices. Also in 2013, healthcare reimbursement account contributions will be limited to $2,500 per year, indexed annually.
• Starting in 2014, all U.S. citizens and legal residents will be required to purchase health insurance, with limited exceptions for low-income people. Individuals who choose to remain uninsured will incur a penalty. Those individuals who cannot afford health insurance will receive financial aid from the federal government on a sliding scale of up to 400% of the poverty line. Also effective in 2014, employers having more than 50 employees that do not provide affordable coverage must pay a fine if their employees receive tax credits to buy insurance. The fine may be as much as $3,000 per employee, excluding the first 30 employees. In addition, the insurance industry must pay annual fees ($8 billion in 2014, rising in subsequent years).
• Starting in 2015, the penalty for those who do not carry mandated coverage will increase to 2.0% of taxable income or $325, whichever is greater, and the penalty in 2016 will increase to 2.5% of taxable income or $695, whichever is greater.
• Starting in 2017, businesses having more than 100 employees will be able to purchase coverage on insurance exchanges if state law permits.
• Starting in 2018, an excise tax of 40% will be imposed on so-called "Cadillac" health plans valued at more than $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

  If you have any questions about the Act and how it may impact you, please contact Jim Karas of Riker Danzig's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group.