Although it may seem like a long way off, the Affordable Health Care Act (also known as the ACA) will be in effect on January 1, 2014. It will fly by, trust me. The company’s ACA implementation plan is not something we want to be focusing on during the holidays. Now is the time to review the regulations, determine the communication and implementation strategy for the company, educate employees and managers, and prepare for the Act’s effective date.
It is essential to create an ACA strategy. The 2013 Aflac WorkForces Survey found that 75% of workers believe their employer will inform them about the changes in their health care coverage due to healthcare reform. Only 13 per cent of employers surveyed said that educating employees on health care reform was important for their business.
If 75% expect communication from the company, then there may be issues with employee engagement, morale, and satisfaction. Do not be this company.
Don’t worry, still has time to create a plan.
Kronos, our friends, has created a webpage dedicated to compliance with the Affordable Care Act. You can see it. This site provides information about the Act as well as its requirements. You can find many great webinar recordings. One of the most fascinating is “Play or Pay: Determining Your Company’s Best Solution to Affordable Care Act“.
Why is Kronos doing this? The 30/130 rule is one of the most challenging aspects of the ACA. This rule requires employees who have worked more than 30 hours per week or more than 130 hours per month to be eligible for health benefits. To ensure compliance, companies must keep this information to track it. Kronos offers a solution for this tracking.
Let’s face the facts; there is no way a company can keep track of all this manually.
Although I don’t like to admit how old I am, this reminds me of when the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act were enacted. These pieces of legislation have a wide scope. It took months to create plans and communicate them. We learned from one another as human resource professionals. It was a team effort.
A few weeks ago, I was honoured to co-host a TweetChat hosted by Kronos and the Workforce Institute on the Affordable Care Act. Download the archive from. It was a fascinating conversation that reminded me how important it is to leverage networks, relationships, and partnerships to learn. We are all in this together. All of us are trying to figure this out. We don’t all have the answers. We will, eventually. Kronos is a great person.
Kronos created. I recommend it if you are looking for resources to help you implement the Affordable Care Act. It’s great stuff. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section. We’ll try to get you answers.