Quote:The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that employers cannot hand tax-free contributions to their workers and tell them to purchase health insurance, The New York Times reported.

Employers who try dumping employees into the healthcare exchanges to avoid having to pay for their coverage are now on notice that the practice is prohibited. Employers who circumvent the law are subject to a $100 a day tax penalty, the newspaper said.

Editor’s Note: Seniors Scoop Up Unclaimed $20,500 Checks? (See if You qualify)

The Affordable Care Act requires large employers to provide healthcare coverage to their full-time workers. Some companies figured it was less expensive to give each employee money to purchase their own coverage on an exchange rather than providing coverage through group policies.

The ruling comes as a blow to many employers who gave their workers tax-free cash contributions to purchase coverage. Andrew Biebl, a tax partner at CliftonLarsonAllen in Minneapolis, said the idea of giving workers money to buy their own insurance preceded Obamacare.

“For decades, employers have been assisting employees by reimbursing them for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” Biebl told the Times. “The new federal ruling eliminates many of those arrangements by imposing an unusually punitive penalty.”

Quote:Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would offer financial assistance to certain insurers who'd suffered losses because of Obamacare. The goal is to keep premiums from rising in an election year, the Times reported. Republicans say the policy amounts to a bailout in return for the industry's support of Obamacare.

(05-26-2014 04:55 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I can't imagine trying to start and build a business in this climate. If I had a great new idea, I'd be looking for somewhere overseas to launch.

And I can't imagine this economy in a few years if people quit starting and growing businesses.

(05-26-2014 05:00 PM)EagleX Wrote:  

(05-26-2014 04:55 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I can't imagine trying to start and build a business in this climate. If I had a great new idea, I'd be looking for somewhere overseas to launch.
And I can't imagine this economy in a few years if people quit starting and growing businesses.

he isn't eliminating upward pressure on healthcare costs -- he's deferring it, and therefore compressing it. it's going to explode when all of these deferments, regulations, disregulations, hidden rules, and unknown timebombs converge . . . which will be shortly after he leaves office. his team is either too stupid to realize it, or they just don't give a damn what happens after they leave office.
I'm not sure anyone -- hillary, whoever -- should really want the job after this guy gets done sowing the future with mines.

Quote:he's deferring it, and therefore compressing it. it's going to explode when all of these deferments, regulations, disregulations, hidden rules, and unknown timebombs converge . . . which will be shortly after he leaves office. his team is either too stupid to realize it, or they just don't give a damn what happens after they leave office.