| Senate Introduces Small Business Tax Credit Companion Bill |
|
Last week, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced S. 1254, legislation to expand the ACA’s Small Business Tax Credit (SBTC), joining H.R. 432,
companion legislation introduced in January by Representative Suzan
DelBene (D-WA). The SBTC was included as part of the ACA to encourage
small employers to provide health insurance to their employees, as
roughly half of small employers offer health benefits to their workers.
Unfortunately, many employers have been unable to claim the credit due
to the current eligibility limitations. These bills would expand the
availability of the SBTC to more small employers to help more employers
claim the credit and offer their employees coverage. Currently, credits are available to eligible small employers of up to 25 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) that pay an average annual wage of less than $50,000. Full credits are available to eligible small employers of up to 10 FTEs with an average annual wage of $25,000 or less. As a result of these limited qualification parameters, many employers who wanted to be able to access the SBTC simply don’t qualify, which has resulted in fewer employers claiming the credit than had been expected. Initial projections showed that as many as 4 million small employers would claim the credit through 2019, claiming $40 billion worth of credits; however, there has been less than $1 billion actually claimed. Most small employers who didn’t claim the credit said it was because the wage eligibility standards were too stringent, while others cited the overly complicated process for calculating the credit, which discouraged many from even applying. Stabenow’s bill would provide a 50% credit for all businesses with 50 or fewer employees, with a phase-out starting at $50,000 in average wages. The bill would further strike the two-year limit for the tax credit, allowing employers to claim the credit on an annual basis. DelBene’s bill would only increase the length that employers could claim the credit from two to three years, instead of in perpetuity. Her bill would also tie the calculation to up to 330% of the federal poverty level ($80,190 for a family of four), increase the threshold for eligible individuals from 10 to 20, and raise the size of businesses eligible from 25 to 50. Additionally, DelBene’s bill would eliminate the requirement that employers contribute the same percentage of the cost for each employee’s plan and simplify calculations by eliminating the current cap of employer contributions to average premiums in the state. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined Senator Stabenow as original cosponsors to S. 1254. Peters had previously been the primary sponsor of House legislation when he served in that chamber. Joining Representative DelBene on the House bill included Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), and Ann Kuster (D-NH) as original cosponsors. Additional cosponsors include Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Adrian Espaillat (D-NY), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Brian Higgins (D-NY), and Mike Thompson (D-CA). NAHU supports this legislation to expand the availability of the SBTC to give small employers meaningful access to affordable coverage for their employees. |
Friday, June 2, 2017
Tax Credit for Small Businesses
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Travel Insurance: Don't Leave Home without it !
Great Travel Insurance Article
Prevention is better than cure: So the saying
goes.
What if you have to curtail your most longed trip, just because
you are sick or have to come back for some inevitable reasons? And all
that costs you so high that you finally lose all your savings. Unlike
health insurance, we hardly pay any attention to travel insurance. While
planning for all other travel expenses we often ignore the most
important thing—self protection.
Travel insurance helps when you fall sick or injured; lose or damage
your luggage; or your air delays while on holiday. Some travel
insurances also cover expenditures if you curtail or cancel your trip in
certain situations. So in order to avoid extra expenditure, and meet
your health needs which can be very expensive in the country you are
holidaying, travel insurance is inevitable. Usually, travel insurance
incurs medical, dental expenses and arranges expenditures related to
aeromedical evacuation to the travelers, under conditions specified by
the insurance policy.
It is always good to buy a comprehensive travel insurance policy in
order to avoid high expenses associated with aeromedical evacuation, and
medical and dental treatment abroad. But, before buying any travel
policy every traveler is advised to analyze the policies carefully and
ensure what is covered and check out for any exclusions. Particularly,
the travelers who work overseas, or some one who is involved in
dangerous jobs, and those traveling for exotic sporting activities
should prefer a special travel plan.
Now, what are the things generally covered by a travel insurance? Though
the terms and conditions of policies varies from one provider to other,
any good travel insurance plan is likely to give coverages that include
hospital and other medical treatment expenses during a trip, outside
his country, delays and curtailment coverage; compensation for lost or
damaged luggage and belongings; and 24-hour helpline for medical and
legal assistance. However, an insurance policy may not pay any
compensation if luggage is stolen due to deliberate negligence. Same
way, they may not pay if a traveler changes his mind to travel. Above
all, the main thing to be considered is whether the travel insurance
policy covers all the needs of travelers or not.
In cases when a traveler has gold credit card or some other insurance
policies that also include travel insurance, then the traveler need not
go for another simple insurance, but he should consider whether the
policy covers hazardous recreations, such as rafting, mountaineering,
skiing, diving, para gliding, hang gliding etc.
It is a common assumption that travel insurances are very expensive, and
people usually do not interpret any adverse situation. So, most of the
people often neglect buying travel insurance policies.
Again people have
a tendency to spend as little as possible to make a trip, may be
because of the monetary constraints. However, prevention is always
better, who knows what waits! The traveler may have to spend much more
than the amount he plans to actually spend as travel expenses. Availing
insurance for travel concerns help travelers in innumerable ways to sort
out financial and physical problems that may arise while traveling.
Author: Pallavi Borgohain
About the author or the publisher
Pallavi Borgohain is basically a freelance content writer contributing promotional write-ups to various Web portals and magazines. A Masters in English literature, the author started her career as a feature writer of various newspapers and magazines. Moreover, the author is quite popular as a children book writer and for her contributory write-ups on humanities and electronic gadgets.The author can be contacted in destinypallavi2006@gmail.com
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