State Group Benefits Health Ins Marketplace

Though some parts of the Affordable Care Act have been delayed, you are still required to provide your employees with information about the Health Insurance Marketplace this year. The notice describing Health Insurance Marketplaces should inform your employees:

• About the existence of Marketplaces, including a description of the services provided by the Marketplaces and how they can contact Marketplaces to request assistance
• That they might be eligible for a premium tax credit if they purchase a qualified health plan through a Marketplace and your share of the total costs of their benefits under the plan is less than 60%
• That they may lose any employer contribution and tax savings towards the cost of employer-sponsored coverage if they purchase a qualified health plan through a Marketplace

You are required to provide this notice to all employees. For 2013, the notice must be provided to each new employee on their date of hire starting October 1, 2013. For employees who are current employees before October 1, 2013, the notice must be provided no later than October 1, 2013. For 2014, the notice must be provided within 14 days of the employee’s start date.

OGB has created a model notice you can use to help craft your notification for employees enrolled in an OGB health plan (see attached PDF). You can also view the Department of Labor’s model notice.

To learn more about what you are required to include in your notice, review the technical release on the U.S. Department of Labor website by visiting http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/tr13-02.html.