More than 1,300 employers sign up for NRA's notification tool

Health insurance exchanges, the centerpiece of the 2010 health care law, have opened, and individuals have begun enrolling in insurance plans for 2014. Restaurants, like all other employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, must give written notice about the health insurance exchanges to new and existing employees.

The National Restaurant Association’s online Notification Tool makes the notification process easy. More than 1,300 restaurateurs have signed up for the Notification Tool in the past month.

The Notification Tool, which is available exclusively to NRA members, offers:

• An easy way for employers to notify employees about the new, government-run health insurance exchanges
• Simple online registration that guides employers through the ACA-required information process
• Stored employee notification for employer tracking and proof of notification
• Peace of mind that employees have been properly notified.

Corner Bakery Café is part of the growing number of companies that are using the NRA’s Notification Tool to fulfill their requirements under the health care law.

“We’ve found the Notification Tool to be a great resource for communicating with our managers and home office employees,” said Denise Clemons, Corner Bakery Café’s senior vice president for people resources. “The tool is user friendly, easy to understand, and the team at the NRA worked diligently to help us set it up.” 

 

Even if you've missed the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline to notify your employees of the health care exchanges, you are still obligated to do so.

Employers still obligated to notify employees despite missed deadline

Although the October 1 deadline has passed for employers to notify employees of the Health Care Marketplaces, it is still necessary for employers to do so. The reasoning for notification is two-fold—to inform employees that they need to obtain coverage on the exchange if they are not covered; and to protect you should an employee have an unpaid medical bill and a creditor is seeking payment.

The Health Care Marketplaces opened last week across the country. Despite the government shutdown, the Affordable Care Act is still in effect.

The National Restaurant Association launched its Online Notification Tool to assist employers in informing their employees about the ACA requirement. The individual mandate means that uncovered employees will need to obtain coverage on the Health Care Marketplace between Oct. 1, 2013 and Feb. 28, 2014.

For more information about the NRA’s Online Notification Tool and to review the Health Care Primer, visit www.restaurant.org/healthcare.  

Employee Notification Deadline Oct. 1

The phone is ringing off the hook at the Louisiana Restaurant Association with questions about the upcoming deadline to notify employees of the Health Care Marketplace/exchanges opening Oct. 1, 2013.

What does that mean for you as an employer? It means that first you need to determine if you are a large or small employer. To calculate your full-time equivalent employees, download the free National Restaurant Association Health Care Primer here.

Once you’ve determined your size (large or small) under the Affordable Care Act, then you will complete the notification form and distribute to your employees to read it and sign that they understand.

What individuals need to know? If you work for a small company and are not eligible for coverage through your employer, you must obtain coverage on the Health Care Marketplace beginning October 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014. Based on your annual salary, you may be eligible for government subsidies through the marketplace at healthcare.gov.

 

To view the previous blog post about the Employee Notification Tool from the National Restaurant Association and the Restaurant Health Care Alliance, click here.

If you have questions, please call the LRA at (504) 454-2277 today and we’ll be happy to help.

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.