BizVoice September/October 2015

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6 BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – September/October 2015
@IndianaChamber
Indiana treading economic waters: @newsandtribune
reports on our Indiana Vision 2025 visit to
Sellersburg this week
Chamber’s Caryl Auslander: Education
improvements require doing more to support
K-12 teachers (via @IIB)
BizVoice: Kosciusko Co. may be known for
orthopedics, but its global ag impact is also
strong
cKj3BKREyU
New Blog Poll: What’s your favorite part of the
@IndyStateFair? Vote now:
States dealing with “double whammy” financial
fallout re: state-run health exchanges
QaZuI (via @HeartlandInst) #ACA
Indy suburbs & Munster top @HomeSnacks list
of top places to live in Indiana. Dyer & Jasper
also in top 10
What others are saying to – or
about – the Indiana Chamber:
@WGU_INChance: Productive workforce
meeting @IndianaChamber and inspiring
presentation @HigherEdIN plus great lunch.
@EMBeilman: .@IndianaChamber is presenting
its 2015 report card at @IvyTechCC today
that ranks Indiana against other states.
@rogerh: @HoosiersWFH partner @IndianaChamber
touts Indiana life sciences and support of IN
congressional delegation @PhRMA
@IceMillerLLP: One week until the Wage &
Hour Seminar with Ice Miller attorneys at
@IndianaChamber:
#employmentlaw
@TruthRadio1340: On Newsmakers at 8:30:
A chat with the President of the @IndianaChamber,
Kevin Brinegar.
@ElkhartTruth: .@IndianaChamber gave one
Elkhart County state lawmaker a perfect score
when it comes to pro-jobs, pro-economy
voting
@Jeff_Rea: An update on #IndianaVision2025
from the @IndianaChamber; my latest column
from today’s @SBTribune
What’s Chirping
on Tweet Street?
The Indiana Chamber has over
13,500 followers. Are you on the
list? Here are some examples of
recent activity:
CHAMBER REPORT
Are you a small employer that does not offer health insurance but
would like to do so? Are you an employer that offers a health
insurance plan to your employees but may have employees who do not
participate because they deem it unaffordable? If so, then you may find
the state’s new Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) Employer Benefit Link to
be of interest.
HIP was expanded to provide health coverage to eligible Hoosiers
that are at income levels up to 138% of the federal poverty level
(FPL), which is $16,436 per year for an individual or $33,865 for a
family of four. The HIP Link is a new state program that offers
premium assistance for eligible (at least age 21) participants who
choose to enroll in their employers’ sponsored health plan.
The basics: HIP Link employers may be able to enroll more of
their employees into their employer-sponsored plans. This may help
some employers meet health plan participation requirements.
Employers must agree to employ Indiana residents and contribute at
least 50% to the premium cost of their employer-sponsored plan.
Plans must meet the federal Affordable Care Act minimum benefit and
cost requirements.
Who qualifies and for what: Large, small and self-insured
businesses with a federal employee identification number (FEIN) that
have at least one employee who is an Indiana resident may be eligible.
The employer becomes a HIP Link employer by filling out an
application online. Employers will need to provide a summary of
benefits and coverage. Dental and vision benefits must be included if
offered.
How it works: The employer deducts from the employee’s pay
the cost or premium charged to the employee for the group health
insurance according to the employer’s normal procedures. Each month
the state will reimburse the employee directly for the amount of the
deduction (minus any employee contribution to the POWER account;
see below).
Each employee participating in the program will be given a HIP
Link personal wellness and responsibility account (POWER) funded
with $4,000. This account is used to pay premiums and other medical
expenses charged to the employee up to $4,000 per year. The plan
promotes personal ownership by requiring participants to contribute a
portion of their income (about 2%) to their health coverage. Family
members may be eligible under the plan.
Approval process: The application for HIP Link is available at
HIP.IN.gov (www.hip.in.gov). Once the employer is approved, an
employer ID will be assigned and employees may then enroll in the
program. There are no costs associated with enrollment. On a
monthly basis, the HIP Link employer will be prompted to confirm
through the portal that employees enrolled in HIP Link are still
employed and eligible for health insurance coverage. On an annual
basis, employers will confirm benefits or premiums for the new
benefit period.
State Rolls Out New Employer
Benefit Link Program
RESOURCES: More information is available at www.hip.in.gov. Further questions may be directed to