A handy government fact sheet available at healthcare.gov offers important pieces of information for small-business owners. The top five are:
1. Insurance companies are held accountable — and must send 80% of your premium dollar on health care (and not advertising and bonuses)
2. Insurance companies will also be held accountable for large rate increases — and must justify their actions if they do increase rates more than 10%
3. You can offer insurance to employees for less — those with fewer than 25 employees may qualify for up to a 35% tax credit
4. You are not required to provide insurance for your employees — if you have fewer than 50 employees, you are exempt from employer responsibilities
5. There will be more insurance choices — starting in 2014, businesses with 100 or fewer employees will be able to find coverage in Affordable Insurance Exchanges
More information about small business and health care. —Stacey Freed, senior editor, REMODELING.