This week the administration rolled out the 35% tax rebate program for small businesses that offer group health insurance to their employees. Officials talked about the thousands of companies with less than 25 employees with wages averaging less than $50,000 a year per employee, would qualify for the health insurance rebate. Many employers have been very excited by this…until they read the fine print. One employer with 24 employees with average annual wages of $35,000 was quite excited, assuming his company more than qualified, and that he would get some help paying the $80,000 a year medical insurance premium. Turns out he won’t get a dime. In the fine print it is noted that the rebate incentive drops off sharply once a company has more than ten employees. To maximize the rebate benefit an employer must keep his total employment count to ten or less, and pay them at the poverty line. https://higginscompanies.com/dental/the-exciting-side-of-dental-insurance/
What do you think an employer is going to do when faced with the prospect of losing their health insurance tax rebate if they go over ten employees, or pay them more than poverty level wages? The answer is the exact opposite of what the administration said the rebate would do, which is create jobs, well paying jobs.
Michael Higgins
602.405.8769
An Arizona health insurance broker.