RINGGOLD, Ga. — Northwest Georgia business leaders need to start preparing for health care reform now, two attorneys say, even though the biggest changes won’t come until 2014.
“We have the law now, so like it or not, it’s going to affect you,” said attorney John Minor of the Ringgold law firm Minor, Bell and Neal.
At a breakfast seminar sponsored by the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Minor and Tony Brown, an employee benefits specialist with Chattanooga-based Russ Blakely and Associates, outlined the changes business owners should expect from the federal health care legislation passed in March.
Mr. Brown said managers need to look into tax credits for providing coverage to employees, wellness program incentives and whether their plans could qualify to be grandfathered in under the new legislation.
Companies with fewer than 25 employees and average wages of less than $50,000 would be eligible for 35 percent tax credits on contributions to employee insurance plans, Mr. Brown said. In 2014, the credit rises to 50 percent.