Among the key changes in health care reform is an employee’s option, if eligible, to choose a plan from a state-run exchange. Beginning this Fall, you are required to inform all employees and new hires of the new exchanges. Employers will need to provide notice with information about the exchanges and an employee’s ability to shop for coverage. The notice should also include eligibility rules for Premium credits and the differences between an exchange plan and an employer-sponsored plan.
On Thursday, May 9, 2013 the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) which is part of the Department of Labor, issued a “model notice” that employers may use to fulfill this requirement. You can find the notice for your customers that offer a health plan here: www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/flsawithplans.pdf.
For employers that do not offer a plan, they must still provide notice and that model notice can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/FLSAwithoutplans.pdf.
These notices must be provided to existing employees on or before October 1, 2013. Notice must be given to new employees with 14 days of their start date.
Topics covered and Information that must be provided includes:
- General Information about the Health Insurance Marketplace
- Potential for Employee to Save money via the Marketplace
- How Employer Coverage may impact eligibility for premium savings
- How to obtain additional information
- General employer information including name, address, employer identification number, contact person for questions, etc.
- Basic information about the employer’s plan and eligibility for employees and dependents
Additional information can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/tr13-02.html.
Our advice is that employer‘s tailor their notice as closely as possible to the model notice provided by the Employee Benefits Security Administration to avoid running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act and to avoid any potential for fines.