Prepare for ACA employee notification requirement with new NRA tool

Millions of American businesses and employees remain confused about the extraordinary changes that begin to unfold in the nation’s health insurance system this fall. The Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) is working closely with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) to advocate for changes in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), help our members understand it, and create services and products to ease implementation challenges. The NRA’s new Health Care Reform Headquarters offers a one-stop shop for our members, including:

Knowledge Center—Get checklists, FAQs, deadlines and other details about how the health care law affects your restaurant company. Find out what you can do to get Congress to make changes to the law too.

Online Notification Tool—Use our new and free restaurant member-exclusive tool to comply with the ACA’s employee-notification requirement before the October 1 deadline.  Easily track employee notifications in your restaurant company.

Marketplace (coming soon!)—The NRA Marketplace will help restaurant employers shop for ACA-compliant health insurance more cost-effectively and efficiently.

The transition relief and voluntary compliance until 2015 for employer penalties and some large-employer reporting requirements bought employers a little extra time to try to understand the law and figure out how to implement it in their operations. But the law’s challenges remain. Important responsibilities for both employers and individuals take effect—soon.

“Every employer and every individual has a responsibility under ACA,” said Wendy Waren, LRA VP of Communications. “Whether or not you meet the large employer threshold, you have a responsibility to notify your employees of the Louisiana state exchange, also known as the Health Insurance Marketplace.”

The NRA Online Notification Tool is free to restaurant members and can serve as your documentation in the event that an employee declined your coverage or didn’t obtain coverage on the exchange, and now has medical bills. If the employee can’t pay the medical bills, and during the process reveals that he wasn’t notified of the requirement for him to obtain coverage on the exchange, they could very well try to collect from you.

The LRA recently partnered with UnitedHealthcare to deliver cost-effective solutions that meet the unique needs of restaurant owners and their valued employees. Read more here. 

If you have any questions, please contact Wendy or Erica at the LRA at (504) 454-2277.