• Mandate that everyone must have insurance.   
• Result in more than 30 million additional people becoming insured.
• Provide for subsidized coverage for people that can't afford it and increase the number of people that will qualify for Medicaid. 
• Make cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans and change their payment formula.
• Increase taxes and fees to many individual Americans and Corporations.
• Make many changes to the way Insurance Companies do business from not allowing them to use pre existing conditions to limiting their rates based on medical loss ratios.

Many of these elements do not phase in for many years. Those that are most immediate and are expected to occur in 2010 are:

• Tax credits for certain small businesses.
• Elimination of pre-existing conditions and an increase in dependant coverage to age 26.
• Creation of a temporary reinsurance program to provide coverage for retirees over 55 who are not eligible for Medicare.
• The further creation of a temporary national high risk insurance pool.
• The prohibition of lifetime limits on benefit payments.
• Closing the so called "doughnut hole" by providing immediate tax credits for Medicare patients who face a gap in prescription drug coverage.

Legislative Alert
Short-term COBRA Subsidy Extension

President Obama has approved a short-term extension of COBRA health insurance premium subsidies for involuntarily terminated employees.

Now, employees terminated from April 1 through May 31, 2010, will receive the 15-month, 65% federal premium subsidy. Prior to this extension, March 31, 2010 was the cut-off date.

President Obama is urging lawmakers to extend the COBRA premium subsidy through the end of the year. The Senate is currently working on this new extension.

Tax Credits from Health Reform
IRS offers short term guidance for Business Owners

The Internal Revenue Service recently launched a new web page that provides guidance on tax credits in the new health reform law for small employers and tax exempt organizations that provide health insurance coverage.  Under the new law, the maximum credit is 35% of premiums paid in 2010 by eligible small businesses and 25% of premiums paid by eligible employers that are tax-exempt organizations.

In 2014, this maximum credit jumps to 50% of premiums paid by eligible small employers and 35% of premiums paid by eligible employers that are tax-exempt organizations. The online portal helps small business owners determine if they are eligible for the tax credit and outlines the financial rewards earned by taking advantage of the credit. In addition, users can review a Frequently Asked Questions section that discusses, in part, the calculation of the credit and how to claim the credit.

The Web page also includes a section that illustrates scenarios on how the credit applies to employers indifferent circumstances. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=220809,00.html?portlet=6