Shutdown/ Covered California Open for Business/ Employee Notification

As I am sure you have read, Congress failed to pass a budget and the result is a government shutdown of everything but essential services.  This has not happened in 17 years. It is estimated 800,000 employees will be furloughed. It is not clear how long this will last but I am sure we are all hoping it will not be for an extended period.

Clearly this will have an impact on our economy and to many small businesses around the country. SBA loans will not be processed, tourism will be negatively impacted and consumer demand will decrease due to the uncertainty.

What do you think?

Today is the day Covered California opens for business. While you can’t purchase coverage until January 1, 2014 in the individual market you can start enrolling today. You must enroll by December 15 for coverage January 1. It is not clear what will happen with SHOP, the small group market, but we do know the calculator won’t be ready for awhile. For the individual calculator go to www.coveredca.com

Today is also the day all businesses must notify their employees about Covered California. I have sent the forms provided by the Department of Labor in previous emails. There are no penalties if you don’t do this but I strongly recommend you get this out if you haven’t already done so.



Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188