The Small Business Health Options Program, (SHOP) is a program with the affordable care act for employers with less that 50 FTEs. It is a plan that helps small businesses including healthcare staffing agencies provide health coverage to their employees. There are several feature of this plan that allow flexibility for the employer. Employers can control which plan is offered, and how much their contribution to the plan will be.
There are four levels of coverage that are offered to best match the needs of the company and employees. An addition feature is that any company that has less than 25 FTEs may qualify for a Small Business Health Care Tax Credit that may be as much as 50% of the premium costs. This tax credit is only available for plans purchased through the SHOP program.
The four plans available in the SHOP offering are called “Bronze”, “Silver”, “Gold”, and “Platinum”.
A cursory view of the plans can best be described as percentages of total cost of care:
- Bronze: 60%
- Silver: 70%
- Gold: 80%
- Platinum: 90%
The following states allow employees to individually select which level they want, with a fixed amount contributed by the employer:
- Arkansas
- North Dakota
- Florida
- Ohio
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Texas
- Iowa
- Virginia
- Missouri
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Wyoming
In all other states, employers must select one plan, then all employees participating must stay with the employer-chosen plan.
We would love to hear from you! Tell us your experience with the affordable care act as a healthcare staffing agency in the comments below.
