5 Things You Need to Know about the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Happy November! We’ve successfully made it to Fall. This time of year means the changing of the leaves, pumpkin EVERYTHING, and for many of us, Open Enrollment for our benefits. Like me, many of your employer’s benefit plans begin on January 1st, which means that within a few short weeks, your employer will start to bombard you with emails, flyers, presentations, and fairs – all related to choosing your benefits for the upcoming year.

For some, this time is easy, perhaps you are still part of the group who can, thanks to President Obama, stay on your parents’ insurance until 26, or, you’re a dependent on your spouse’s or partner’s plan. For you, this time of year does not mean as much, although I encourage you to check out what your employer is offering. You may find that it’s a better option for you and your family. One of the things that I’ve found as both an in-house HR practitioner and as a consultant is that selecting your health insurance is a complicated and confusing process for many – even the smartest of us all. Therefore, over the next week, this blog will be devoted to Open Enrollment and to removing (hopefully) some of the intimidation from the process.

The first post in this series is related to health insurance and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 AKA Obamacare.

If you read the paper or watch the news, you’ve heard of Obamacare. Obamacare, technically titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a law that was passed by President Obama in 2010. One of the main goals of the Affordable Care Act was to ensure that all citizens have access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage. In this political season, the ACA is something that we hear about almost daily, but I’ve found many people do not understand the law or how it relates to them. I hope this post will help to demystify the ACA and offer a better understanding.

5 Things you should know about the Affordable Care Act:

1) Affordability
You may be thinking that affordability is relative. However, when it comes to health insurance, the ACA has defined it for us. Under the ACA, affordability is no more than 9.5% of your monthly salary. That is, your employer must offer you a plan in which your monthly contribution to the premium is not more than 9.5% of your monthly salary*. If your plan is not affordable, you may shop for a plan within the Marketplace, where if there no affordable plans, you may apply for an exemption.

*If your employer’s plan is not affordable, the company may be subject to IRS penalties.

2) The Marketplace
Typically, the term Marketplace would have a lovely connotation. I picture Etsy, with beautiful handmade jewelry, clothing, and other artistic flares. However, when referring to the Health Insurance Marketplace, it can seem a little intimidating – but it shouldn’t be. It is exactly how it sounds. A place where you can purchase the health insurance of your choice based on your and/or your family’s needs.

Why would you need to go to the marketplace if your employer offers benefits? There may be a few reasons 1) Your employer’s plan is not affordable (see definition above). 2) If you do not meet your employer’s eligibility 3) You are unemployed.

Some states have their own Health Insurance Marketplace, others, defer to the federal Marketplace. You can access your state or federal marketplace here.

3) Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC)
Minimum Essential Coverage is the coverage you will need in order not to receive a fee for lack of insurance. To be in compliance with the law you must maintain minimum essential coverage throughout the year, get an exemption, or pay a fee for each month you go without it (although you are allowed less than three months in a row each year without coverage, due to a coverage gap exemption). You’ll report minimum essential coverage on your Federal Income Taxes for each month you or a dependent had coverage.[1]

4) No Cost Preventative Care
All health insurance plans must coverage certain preventative treatments at no cost. Therefore, procedures such as pap smears, annual physical, and mammograms are covered for free. This is an important part of the ACA to note. Many people choose their plans based on the co-pays, co-insurance, etc. However, if you’re a person who typically only uses insurance for annual check-ups, exams, and procedures, you may not have as many out-of-pocket costs as estimated.

5) The Law Holds Health Insurance Companies Accountable
To ensure premium dollars are spent primarily on health care, the law generally requires that at least 85% of all premium dollars collected by insurance companies for large employer plans are spent on health care services and health care quality improvement. For plans sold to individuals and small employers, at least 80% of the premium must be spent on benefits and quality improvement. If insurance companies do not meet these goals, because their administrative costs or profits are too high, they must provide rebates to consumers.[2]

Did you receive a rebate from your health insurance provider last year? This could be why.

I hope this short list helped to take some of the mystery out of the Affordable Care Act. Of course these “5 things” are just a few highlights of the Affordable Care Act. If you’d like to read the law, you may do so here.

Next up in this series related to Open Enrollment: What’s a deductible, anyway?

More information related to the Affordable Care Act can be found at the Health and Human Services website. http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-law/read-the-law/

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[1] http://obamacarefacts.com/minimum-essential-coverage/

[2] http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts-and-features/key-features-of-aca-by-year/index.html

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Which Mask Are You Wearing?

Happy Halloween! While I have pumpkins in my entry way and will take the child out for treat-or-treating, I can’t say I’m a person who’s really into Halloween. There are some who goes “all out” for this holiday. However, coming up on Halloween made me think about masks and the ones we wear daily – and we all wear them. I don’t mean to imply that we are not always attempting to be our authentic selves, but there are definitely times when I feel like I’m wearing a mask – especially at work.

I don’t think that in wearing a mask, you’re completely inauthentic or fake. However, I do feel that when you don’t work for yourself and are representing someone else’s brand/image/product, you are wearing a mask of sorts. Also, let’s face it, these masks are often required if we want to sustain our livelihood. For many people, donning this mask is why they often branch out on their own and do things such as consult, open their own business or switch professions altogether.

Wearing a mask at work may simply involve selling a product that you don’t believe in, or the more extreme, not being able to be who you truly are. Some people are closeted at work or, some individuals feel that they cannot celebrate their cultural heritage and identity at work. These are more extreme cases of mask wearing, but you would be surprised how many people are wearing such a disguise.

In honor of Halloween (or maybe reverse Halloween ☺), I’d like to recommend that we take the masks off! Can you imagine how awesome our work environment would be if instead of wearing the masks we think are required, we were our true selves? What a culture of diversity and truthfulness it could bring?!

Are you wearing a mask? What mask are you putting on each day? What’s your scariest professional story? Feel free to share in the comment below!

 

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Can’t Knock the Hustle

Today’s post is a short one. However, I had a bit of inspiration that I couldn’t ignore. If you’re familiar with this blog, I’m sure you know that I can find a Jay Z or Beyoncé song that’s relevant to just about any situation in life. Today is no different. I’ve been looking for a vendor to do some work for me, and I have been interviewing various people. Yesterday, I spoke with a young woman who impressed the boots off of me. What was so impressive was that she was the wrong fit for what I was searching, however, everything from her presentation to her passion, drive, professionalism, and style was great! Although this opportunity was not a match for us to work together, I’m sure we’ll connect on a future project. After I met with her, I just kept hearing Mary J. Blige singing the hook to Jay Z’s, “Can’t Knock the Hustle” in the back of my mind. I’m rooting for her success, and I don’t even know her.

We often allow ourselves to let rejection or a denial influence how we operate. The truth is, sometimes constructive criticism is helpful, and we often need to take a personal inventory to see if we’re heading in the right or wrong direction. However, there are other times when we’re rejected or denied simply because the objecting body is not a match. When this is the case, there’s no need to alter our style. Eventually, there will be a vessel large enough to handle all that you have to offer. This young lady was a great reminder that sometimes your wattage is too much for some lamps, but that’s no reason to dim your light.

Photo Copyright: <a href=’http://www.123rf.com/profile_idspopd’>idspopd / 123RF Stock Photo

It’s Never Too Late

I am the queen of saying “In my next life, I’m going to do…”. Recently, I’ve found myself saying it more often. Whether it refers to some small choice I’ve made related to the type of vehicle I drive, or, city living vs. suburbia. However, mostly when I say this, I’m referring to my career choices. I love what I do, but I often wish there was a different way for me to apply my experience. That’s part of the reason why I started this blog. I wanted to mesh my knowledge and passion about Human Resources (yes, I have a passion for HR) to my love of giving advice and helping people solve their personal problems.

Recently, I’ve received several signs from the universe that I simply can no longer ignore. I stumbled across an old Business Insider article which detailed several famous individuals; artists, authors, actors and many other known successful people who achieved success or switched careers later in life. Warning: later in life often refers to life after 30 (yikes).  Then, I ran across this quote: It is never too late to be what you might have been – George Eliot.

It finally occurred to me that while I had been saying it jokingly, the reality is that there isn’t another life (as far as I know). I only have one. I am not super-young, but, hopefully, have plenty of years ahead of me. Moreover, while I did not necessarily start the process when I wanted, there’s no reason why my goals must disappear, simply because I’m starting 15 years later.

It was not my intention to share this personal epiphany with the blogosphere. However, there are so many of us who stop short of our dreams because we got married, got divorced, had children, didn’t finish school, ran out of money, the task seemed too daunting, and countless other reasons why our goals may have been deferred. Contrary to what Drake told us, if you’re reading this it’s NOT too late. There are a million other mantras and clichés that say some form of the same thing. The point is, we only have one life. I’ve decided that instead of talking about what I could have done, I’m just going to do it – or die trying. I recommend you do the same.

— Andrea

New Overtime Regulations: What’s it to you?

Overnight, you may have seen in the news that President Obama will be signing into law new Overtime Regulations under the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) today. The FLSA, in addition to many other things, outlines overtime regulations.

What does this mean for you? If you are currently exempt from earning overtime payments – which is typically 1.5 times your hourly rate for any hours worked over 40 hours per week, you may now be eligible – if your current salary is less than $47,476.

But before you head out to buy those new Louboutins with your extra overtime dollars, please note that this law is not effective until December 1, 2016. This time gives your employer the opportunity to assess their current compensation strategy. Maybe they don’t need you to work those extra hours you’ve been putting in over 40 per week, and they’ll implement a no overtime rule, or perhaps they’ll bump your salary up to the $47,476 threshold, or pay the overtime. This change may have an enormous impact on your employer, and they will have to make adjustments.

This brief post details only a portion of the FLSA and the key provisions of the final rule.  If you are interested in learning more about the new FLSA Overtime Regulations, pop over to the DOL website for more information. 

Number of workers impacted per state. 

Overtime updates will extend protections to 4.2 million workers across the country. *Infographic courtesy of http://www.dol.gov/featured/overtime.

Millennials Are Not Evil

Well, maybe some of the trolls on Twitter are, but, for the most part, they’re harmless. For some reason, whenever they’re mentioned in the workplace, someone inevitably rolls their eyes. Not to give away my age too much, but let’s just say Destiny’s Child (3 member version – not the 4) was singing “Survivor” when I was accepting my undergraduate degree. Therefore, I sit right on the cusp of being both a Generation Xer and a Millennial. When I first started my career in Human Resources, I read studies conducted on the interaction of Baby Boomers (born 1946 -1964) with the Gen Xers (1965 – early 80’s) and attended seminars on how the two will coexist and how we can all just-get-along. This was a major area of study during that time. Now, the hype is around the Millennials (early 80’s – mid/late 90’s)  and how this Uber loving, Snapchatting generation is going to take us all down (that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get the point). In my line of work, I’m often privy to people’s birthdates. Believe me, the first few times I saw 199x as a birthdate of a new employee, I thought we were hiring high school student workers. I couldn’t fathom that someone born in nineteen ninety-anything was old enough to have completed college AND entering the workforce. After all, I’m barely out of college (not really, but I still feel young). However, they’re here now, so let’s get over it.

I completely understand the feeling of no longer being the young starlet. It wasn’t that long ago I would give people my title, and they would say, “At your age?!”. Or, they would find out my age and could not believe the position I held. Now, I tell people my age and/or title and they respond, “That’s nice.” It’s a hard adjustment; especially if you’re a person who’s been a high achiever your entire life and now you’re no longer the child prodigy. You’re actually at a place in life where you are going to be held accountable, and no one is going to cut you any slack because of your youth or inexperience. Hopefully, you’re at a place in life and career where you’re okay with that.

Now, back to the Millennials – they’re here and here to stay. And unless there’s an Instagram apocalypse that wipes all of their users off the face of the earth, they’re not going anywhere. So here are four tips for coping with these newbies in the workplace.

1.  Mentor: It wasn’t that long ago you were in their shoes. You remember what it was like to be new, smart, excited and still no real clue of what you were doing. You’re young enough in age to relate, but old enough to have wisdom too – don’t be stingy. Share what you’ve learned, the good, bad and ugly. We all need coaching, and it’s nice to know that someone is in your corner and can help you navigate your way through your career and professional life.

2.  Teach (very similar to mentoring): I realize we’re talking about work and, for the most part, we just want to get in, do the work we’re hired to do and leave. However, whether you have Millennials who report directly to you, are peers, or even supervise you, this is your opportunity to share what you’ve learned with them. You don’t have to limit teaching to job specific tasks. Teaching can involve introducing someone to professional associations, guiding them through the nuances of the organization, or simply serving as a sounding board for ideas.

3.  Learn: While I’m sure you’re wondering what you could possibly learn from someone who has never taped a song from the radio. There is much to learn from a person who has grown up in such an insta-society. Their perspective is different, and it presents new ways to look at the world and possibly at the work.

4.  Embrace: Again, they’re not going anywhere. Instead of being the old person who sits around the water cooler complaining that the new girl is wearing yoga pants to work (btw, this is rarely okay). Help guide her into the role of the young professional she is capable of becoming. Also, maybe she can teach the marketing department how to cut the advertising budget by using social media outreach.

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It’s Been a Long Time, I Shouldn’t Have Left You

Hello…again. I took a brief hiatus from the blog; however, I’m back with a new focus on you, the readers. I’ve returned with great information and a new format that I hope you’ll enjoy.

For those of you who may be new to HR Trendster, it’s a blog for YOU. As an HR Consultant, I usually work with business leaders, CEOs, and other executives to provide human resource advice and consultation for their organization. Yet, I find that my passion lies in working with individuals who are seeking advice and guidance for their personal career goals. I often meet or am connected with people who need professional help. It may be counsel on how to handle a difficult co-worker, employee, or boss to questions regarding interoffice romance (don’t worry I’ll address that soon) or interviewing techniques. I find that’s the work I enjoy most.   And that’s what I mean when I say, “this blog is for YOU.” It’s your opportunity to ask questions, get advice and read posts that relate to what matters to you.

I’m looking forward to a great conversation with you all.

Stay tuned. An exciting new addition to the HRTrendster site is coming, and you can join in the fun!