If you like your health insurance plan you may not be able to keep it. We noted in June that existing employer health insurance plans are not required to adopt certain aspects of the new federal health care law until 2014 (e.g. prohibition of co-pays for preventive services, coverage of adult dependents to age 26 that have other job-based coverage) unless they make plan changes that cause a loss of “grandfathered” status.” Well, for most Maryland employers, grandfather has died.
In order to simplify plan administration, most health insurance carriers serving the small group market and fully-insured larger groups in Maryland are no longer offering plans that recognize grandfathered benefit levels. Additionally, the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Maryland Health Care Commission are in the process of issuing emergency regulations that would preclude carriers from recognizing grandfathered plans in the small group market for plan years after September 23, 2010. A survey by the National Business Group on Health shows that most larger employers are also throwing in the towel on grandfathering, concluding that it is more important to adjust plan features that will contain costs than freeze the benefit design and maintain grandfathered status. See the survey.
Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The Maryland Chamber sent candidates running for state office a business issue questionnaire. We’ve received more than 300 responses so far, and we’re still getting more every day.
This is a quick post to show you where you can find responses from your candidates.
1. Start at the Election Center home page. Click the “Find Your Candidates” link.
2. Enter your address and the site will provide you with a list of candidates in your district.
3. Click the “State Legislature” tab to view your candidates for Maryland Senate and Maryland House of Delegates.
4. Click on a candidates name to pull up their profile.
5. To see if we’ve posted your candidates responses, click the “Find Your Candidates” link. If we’ve posted their response, you will find it in the “Our Comments” section, just above the box with biographical information.
If you have any questions, contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
With the Governor and every member of the Maryland General Assembly up for reelection this year, it’s important that we get out the business vote. Visit the Maryland Chamber’s new online Election Center to learn more about your candidates and the election year issues that impact your business.
Visit the site Election Center to access voter registration information, details about candidates in your district, election news, tips for workplace get-out-the-vote programs and other election year resources. If you find the site helpful, be sure to share it with your employees and co-workers.
We sent all candidates running for state office a business issue questionnaire. Many have already responded and we’ve posted their responses here to make it easy for business people to discover where their candidates stand on important economic issues like taxes, workplace regulation, Maryland’s economic competitiveness and more. We’ll be updating the site frequently, so if you don’t see your candidate’s response, be sure to check back soon.
To vote in Maryland’s September 14 Primary Election, you must be registered to vote by Tuesday, August 24. Also, remember you must register with a party to vote in the Primary.
You can use our website to complete your voter registration forms. To begin, click here. Enter your name, address and a few other bits of information and the site will produce a pdf file that you can print, sign and mail to your county board of elections.
Remember that you cannot register to vote online, via email or by fax. You must mail the registration form to your county board of elections. You may also complete a voter registration form in person at your local board of elections, the State Board of Elections, the Motor Vehicle Administration or a number of other locations.
For more voter registration information, click here.
It’s worse than you think. And once you understand how bad the expanded 1099 reporting requirements will be for your business, you will demand that Congress repeal them.
Current law generally requires that a Form 1099 be filed for purchases of services over $600 during a calendar year – typically from small contractors and vendors. One of the mechanisms used to pay for the new federal health care law was an expansion of 1099 filing requirements to goods purchased, and purchases from corporations, starting in calendar year 2012. This new law will greatly increase administrative costs for businesses, result in hundreds of millions of new 1099s, and cause the following problems:
Businesses will need to have record keeping systems in place by January of 2012 that allow for the tracking of all purchases by vendor Tax Identification Number (TIN).
Businesses will need to obtain a TIN from a vendor at the time of making a purchase if there is a possibility that your total purchases could exceed $600 during the year. Think of the nightmare this will cause when buying a computer, office supplies, inventory, gasoline, etc.
If a vendor fails to provide you their TIN, you are required to withhold 28% of the purchase price in backup withholding and annually remit the funds to the IRS.
The 1099s must be provided to the IRS starting in January of 2013, with a copy sent to the vendor. Businesses filing over 250 1099s with the IRS must do so electronically.
Businesses receiving 1099s should reconcile them to their records for accuracy.
Businesses filing or receiving 1099s are likely to receive additional correspondence from the IRS if the data filed differs from their records (missing data, non-match of name and TIN, 1099 income not reflected on tax return, etc.).
Businesses that fail to issue the required 1099s or perform backup withholding will receive penalties from the IRS.
Payments to business entities that are tax exempt will not require a 1099. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has also stated that he may administratively exempt from 1099 reporting payments made by businesses through credit or debit cards, since these are separately reported by financial institutions.
While your Congressman and Senators are on the campaign trail, now is the perfect time to demand that they co-sponsor pending legislation (S. 3578 and H.R. 5141) to repeal the burdensome 1099 reporting requirements (only Rep. Bartlett is currently a co-sponsor). Do not accept excuses that this “revenue source” must be replaced (to pay for a health care bill we opposed) or that similar legislation recently died in the House (H.R. 5982 was a partisan attempt to impose more tax increases). See more information on this issue from the Maryland Association of CPAs here.
Federal agencies issued interim final regulations last week listing 45 preventive services that all employer and individual health insurance plans must cover without cost-sharing requirements (co-pay, co-insurance, or deductible), effective for plan years beginning after September 23, 2010. Additional preventive services may be added in future years. Cost sharing may still be required for office visits that are billed separately from the preventive services, or if the preventive services are not the primary purpose of an office visit.
The regulations, issued under the new federal health care law, do not apply to plans in a “grandfathered” status, as we described last month. See the regs and services here. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting small businesses and municipalities to nominate representatives to provide input on a proposed stormwater rule. The rule would strengthen the national stormwater program under the Clean Water Act and focus on stormwater discharges from developed sites, such as subdivisions, roadways, industrial facilities and commercial buildings or shopping centers.
Selected participants will provide the Small Business Advocacy Review panel input on how the EPA can minimize the potential burden on small entities. The panel will consist of officials from the EPA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Office of Management and Budget. Participants will provide input on how the EPA can minimize the potential burden on small entities.
Nominations must be received by August 4. Click here for more information about the proposed rulemaking. Contact Allyson Black for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The State Commissioner of Labor and Industry announced that wage rates payable on state service contracts of over $100,000 will increase effective September 27, 2010. With the enactment of “Living Wage” legislation in 2007, Maryland became the only state in the country to pay above market wages for service contracts. The CPI escalator in the legislation will boost the wage rates paid by service vendors performing state contracts to $12.28 per hour in the 6 metropolitan counties and $9.23 per hour in the remaining 18 counties. See the announcement here.
Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Subcommittees of the Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission have met recently, as the Commission works to develop a consensus for its final report that is due by December 15, 2010. Although no votes have been taken, considerable time and support has been devoted to the issues of corporate income tax changes such as combined reporting, single sales factor apportionment for all corporations, additional tax credit authority for local governments, and enhanced reporting accountability for business tax credits.
The Commission is planning on public hearing in the late fall and final votes on recommendations in November. If your business has concerns regarding these issues, we need you to contact us now. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
With the Governor and every member of the Maryland General Assembly up for reelection this year, it’s important that Maryland businesses educate and engage their employees. As the election nears, the Maryland Chamber is working to make this as easy as possible.
This month, we will launch an online election guide on the Chamber Action Network website. The guide will be a one-stop shop for non-partisan election year information. You and your employees will be able to find voter registration information, identify which district you live in, browse information about your candidates and more.
We sent all candidates running for state office a business issue questionnaire. We will begin to post their responses soon, so business people can find our where their candidates stand on important business issues like taxes, workplace regulation, Maryland economic competitiveness and more.
You can help our efforts by planning a workplace Get-Out-the-Vote effort. Here are a few simple suggestions:
Urge your employees to register to vote and provide them voter registration information, as well as information on how to obtain an absentee ballot if they will be out of town. To vote in the September 14 primary, you must be registered by August 24. To vote in the November 2 General Election, you must be registered by October 12. Registration information is available here. You can use our website to complete your voter registration forms. To begin, click here. Enter your name, address and a few other bits of information and the site will produce a pdf file that you can print, sign and mail in to register to vote. Remember that you cannot register to vote online, you must mail in a registration form to the State Board of Elections or your local board of elections.
Remind your employees to vote by placing a reminder with their paycheck prior to Election Day – Primary Election is September 14; General Election is November 2.
Encourage your employees to vote on Election Day by providing them paid time off to go to the polls. Offer anyone who votes extra time in the morning, at lunch or at the end of the day.
Hold a contest to for voting participation. Have each division, office or department strive for 100 percent participation. Offer prizes or recognition for the winning group.
If you have any questions about how the Maryland Chamber can help you with your election year efforts, contact Will Burns at (410) 269-0642, (301) 261-2858 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Employers should carefully weigh any changes to their health insurance plans that could trigger the early application of new federal health care mandates on their policies. Existing employer health insurance plans are not required to adopt certain aspects of the new law until 2014 (e.g. prohibition of co-pays for preventive services, coverage of adult dependents to age 26 that have other job-based coverage) unless they make plan changes that cause a loss of “grandfathered” status.” Interim final regulations issued last week by federal agencies detail the types of changes that will cause a loss of grandfathered status, including:
Significantly cutting or reducing benefits;
Changing insurers;
Raising co-pays by more than $5 or the rate of medical inflation plus 15%; or
Raising deductibles by more than the rate of medical inflation plus 15%.
Federal officials estimate that most employer health plans will lose grandfathered status prior to 2014 due to such changes. See a summary of the grandfathering regulations from Seyfarth Shaw. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce signed on to a multi-industry letter opposing HR 5175, the “DISCLOSE Act.”
This legislation would place onerous restrictions on corporate free speech. The bill would impact businesses, trade associations, chambers of commerce, while ignoring organized labor’s immense political influence.
“With an overwhelming—and unconstitutional—emphasis on limiting the speech of for-profit corporations and the associations that represent them, the DISCLOSE Act discriminates against America’s job creators, prohibiting them from expressing political views,” U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue said.
The Maryland Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (MACCE) named Frederick County Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Richard Adams its 2010 Chamber Executive of the Year during a luncheon today at the BWI Airport Marriott Hotel.
Adams was recognized for his many accomplishments that have strengthened the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce including:
• Developing a five-year Strategic Plan “Vision 2010,” which is the “road map” of the Frederick County Chamber that outlines goals for the Chamber to achieve by its 100th anniversary in 2010. One hundred community leaders and a final committee of 12 representatives developed the plan. The Chamber also now hosts an annual event, “Envisioning 2027,” where 80 to 100 community leaders have an open dialogue about how to improve Frederick County for the next generation.
• Launching the Frederick County Business Roundtable for Education, which connects the business community with the classroom in an effort to shape Frederick County’s future workforce.
• Developing two new Social Media Conferences to teach beginners, intermediate, and advanced users how to use social media to improve their businesses.
• Positioning the Chamber as the voice of business for the Frederick community by hiring a professional lobbying group to help represent the Chamber in Annapolis.
• Rebuilding the Chamber Board with Frederick’s key business leaders and hired new professional staff.
• Strengthening the financial management practices of the Chamber including increasing the effectiveness of sponsorships through the development of a trustee program, focusing on member retention, and continuously evaluating Chamber programs’ relevancy and ability to generate revenue.
Adams is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Maryland. He has served as a past Treasurer (2009) and Director at Large (2008) of MACCE and is serving as co-chair of the 2010 Mini Institute. He is involved in a number of community organizations including the Frederick County Workforce Development Board, the Frederick County United Way Board, the Hood College Board of Trustees, the Noon Rotary Club, and many others.
This was the sixth time MACCE has named a Chamber Executive of the Year.
Posted by Krysten Appelbaum on 06/03 at 05:47 PM
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Maryland Chamber Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt recently outlined the small business health care tax credits that are part of the recently enacted federal health care legislation.
After tinkering around with the calculator below, which is provided by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Wineholt said the credit will be difficult to get if your company has more than 10 employees.
Governor O’Malley recently appointed a 12-member Council to guide the Administration on actions necessary to implement the new federal health care legislation. The Maryland Health Care Coordinating Council held its first meeting last week and received presentations regarding the new law and the impact of the law on the state Medicaid program, the MHIP program for persons lacking insurance, the individual and group health insurance markets, and the small group market.
The Council will meet regularly over the next several months, assign workgroups on specific issues, provide an interim report to the Governor by July 15, and a final report by January 1, 2011. Employers will have a lot at stake regarding how the federal law is implemented, so the Chamber will closely track and participate in the Council’s work.
The Council’s next meeting will be on June 10. See the Council’s website, documents, and schedule at: http://www.healthreform.maryland.gov. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
