Without stepping into a political quagmire beyond this topic, I just wanted to share our experience at FMS related to the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

Background

I’m sure small businesses can do much more with that money than padding the pockets of the executives and shareholders of the big insurance companies. We still see healthcare costs rising, but it’s good to know the rise is tied to actual increases in services being provided rather than profit margins. We look forward to the insurance pool that Virginia is creating for local businesses. From my contacts in our Republican governor’s office, Virginia is not resisting this initiative like some other red states and is moving forward with ways to reduce our cost of doing business here. Practical decisions like this keep Virginia business friendly.

Overall Impact

For companies like FMS that already provide health insurance to its employees, the obligations created by the new legislation don’t impact us since we were already doing them. We also don’t qualify for the small business tax credits which are targeting firms with lower compensated employees. I really like the lifting of the lifetime cap because after all, that’s when you really need insurance and it wasn’t an option previously available to us. I dreaded the idea that one of our employees would have faced a terrible health problem with financial ruin even though they were insured. I also like the moves to reduce the number of healthy people who choose not to buy insurance, yet end up using healthcare services we subsidize. Overall, it’s looking like a win-win for FMS and our employees. It certainly doesn’t solve everything, but it’s a good first step from our experience.

Luke Chung, FMS President

Follow Up

For our experience using the Healthcare.gov website the first time it launched on October 1, 2013, check out: Healthcare.gov is a Technological Disaster