New Service Helps Small Employers Comply With Health Insurance Exchange Requirements

LANSING (WWJ) -- A new service launched Wednesday by the Small Business Association of Michigan will help small employers comply with important Health Insurance Exchange notification requirements.

Details on the new service can be found at http://tinyurl.com/SBAMACA.

The Affordable Care Act requires that by Oct. 1, every employer provides all of their part-time and full-time employees with a notice regarding the Health Insurance Exchange. To be compliant with the Department of Labor, there are two separate Model Notices that must be sent. One notice is for employers that currently offer health insurance as an employee benefit to their employees. The other notice is for employers that do not offer health insurance as an employee benefit. Going forward, new hires must receive notice within 14 days of their start date of employment.

"It's important that small businesses pay attention to this Oct. 1 deadline because employers may be penalized for not complying with the notice requirements," says Scott Lyon, senior vice president for SBAM.

SBAM's new service, ACANotice.com, is provided by Lake Michigan Mailers Inc.

Employers who are members of SBAM pay a one-time $30 processing and handling fee and 60 cents per employee address. Through the ACANotice.com website, employers can complete the information required by the Affordable Care Act and upload each of their employee addresses. Lake Michigan Mailers, Inc., will receive the data provided through the website and create the appropriate notice (written in English or Spanish) as provided by the Department of Labor, and merge, print, fold, insert and mail the notices via First-Class mail prior to the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline.

Once the notices have been mailed, employers will be provided with a confirmation report indicating the date of mailing and the name and address of all recipients on their employee list, as well as the type of form they received.

Requests received by Sept. 26 at 7 a.m. will be processed by Lake Michigan Mailers in time to meet the Oct. 1 deadline.