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.
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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).
On April 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidelines for how the new federal health care law will affect the extension of group health insurance coverage to an employee’s adult child. Notice 2010-38 states that:
Group plans must provide coverage up to age 26 for adult children of employees for plan years beginning after September 23, 2010, but no later than January 1, 2011.
An employer may allow coverage for an adult child up to a calendar year in which the child attains age 27.
Such adult children need not meet the Internal Revenue Code requirements of a dependent of the employee for income tax purposes in order to qualify for health insurance coverage.
Notwithstanding normal rules for open enrollment and mid-year changes to health insurance plan coverage, an employer may immediately allow an employee to enroll an adult child for health insurance coverage on a pre-tax basis, even if the cafeteria plan has not yet been amended to allow the enrollment of such individuals. A plan must be amended by December 31, 2010.
The recently enacted federal health care legislation will provide certain small businesses with income tax credits for the next several years as a way of subsidizing the employer’s cost of health insurance premiums. The IRS has mailed postcards to over 4 million small businesses to promote the program. The program provides:
For tax years 2010 through 2013, a 35 percent income tax credit for employer health insurance costs for employers with 10 or fewer employees with an average wage of $25,000 or less. Lesser credits are provided for employers with 11 to 25 employees with an average wage of less than $50,000.
For tax years after 2013, up to a 50 percent tax credit for an eligible small employer’s health insurance costs purchased through a Health Insurance Exchange. An employer could only claim this credit for 2 years.
The maximum credits for small non-profit employers are 25 percent through 2013 and 35 percent after that date.
No credit for sole proprietors.
See the IRS website for details of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The 2010 Maryland General Assembly session ended at 12 a.m. this morning. During the 90-day session the Maryland Chamber took positions on 146 of the 2,700 bills introduced. You can view all of our bill positions here and access our legislative updates here.
Here are a few items of interest from the 2010 session:
Unemployment Insurance: The biggest issue of the session for most Maryland employers was the Administration’s unemployment insurance bill (SB 107). As introduced, the legislation would have liberalized several standards for granting unemployment insurance benefits in order for the state receive a one-time payment of $127 million in federal stimulus funds. While well-intentioned, the bill would have increased state borrowing from the federal government and increased long-term costs to employers. The Maryland Chamber stood united with other business organizations to insist on amendments to the bill that contained employer costs. The resulting compromise was enacted in a manner that will qualify the state for the federal funds, strengthen the long-term health of the unemployment insurance trust fund, reduce interest on late payments, and allow employers to use payment plans to extend unemployment insurance payments this year.
Budget: The state operating budget was again balanced through heavy reliance on fund shifts and borrowing from special funds, and federal stimulus funds. Significant downside risks continue, with an uncertain economic recovery, an anticipated further loss of over $1 billion in federal stimulus funds next year, and an ongoing gap between state spending and revenues of over $1.5 billion. This could lead to pressure for increased taxes, which we think would be ill-advised on top of the $1.3 billion of new taxes adopted in 2007. The new General Assembly will face major budget decisions.
Taxes: The General Assembly resisted efforts to adopt new taxes this session. The business community worked to defeat a number of tax proposals, including legislation to extend the duration of the 6.25 percent individual income tax bracket on high wage earners and legislation to implement a corporate income tax system of unitary combined reporting. We worked to achieve passage of legislation to extend the research and development tax credit and a bill to allow small businesses with real property tax bills of less than $50,000 to pay their taxes in semiannual installments, starting in 2011.
Workplace Regulation: There were a number of bills dealing with workplace regulation. We worked to defeat legislation that would have expanded Maryland employers’ obligations under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, prohibited employers from using an applicant’s credit history when making hiring decisions, required employers to compensate employees for jury duty and more.
Stormwater Management: The Maryland Chamber and its business allies successfully advocated changes to the stormwater regulations set to take effect in May 2010. The emergency regulations will give developers more time to complete their projects before having to meet the new, stricter stormwater management rules. The compromise will “grandfather” some additional projects that were already in the planning pipeline and also give developers additional flexibility for redevelopment projects in designated growth areas.
The Maryland Senate is on the verge of passing legislation that would allow small business owners with a tax bill of less than $50,000 to pay their real property taxes in two installments beginning next year. The legislation, HB 484, passed the House of Delegates 138-0 last month.
Since 1995, homeowners have had the option to pay their real property taxes in two installments - one half by September 30 and one-half by December 31. The General Assembly provided this payment plan option to homeowners recognizing that some property owners had difficulty paying their taxes in one lump sum. More than 30 states allow all real property owners to pay their property taxes in installments. In these tough economic times, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce believes extending the semiannual payment option to businesses would be helpful.
The legislation received the unanimous support of the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee and has passed second reading on the Senate floor. A vote on final passage could happen as early as tomorrow.
For more information, contact Ron Wineholt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
A key legislative committee yesterday approved changes to the stormwater regulations set to take effect next month. The compromise regulations were developed by Maryland developers, environmentalists and government officials to address some of the the concerns outlined by the business community and local governments.
The new emergency regulations will give developers more time to complete their projects before having to meet the new, stricter stormwater management rules. The compromise would “grandfather” some additional projects that were already in the planning pipeline. It would also give developers additional flexibility for redevelopment projects in designated growth areas.
The compromise was brokered by House Environmental Matters Committee Chair Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Dist. 43). The regulatory changes required the approval of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR). After AELR delayed its vote on the compromise regulations, the House of Delegates passed a bill to make the changes through legislation. The bill was scheduled to be heard this week by the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. With AELR approval, legislation is no longer necessary.
For more information, contact Allyson Black at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
