Evolving legislation continues to steer the U.S. health careindustry, leaving some businesses struggling to stay afloat. Twofactors, the Cadillac tax and private exchanges, are making aparticular splash, providing brokers with a pivotal part to play asbenefits navigators to help employers weather the shifting waves ofchange.

Keep clients on board the benefits boat

An annual excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored healthinsurance known as the Cadillac tax has been top of mind foremployers, who are unsure of how it will affect their businesses.As it stands, it will impose a 40 percenttax on the portion of a health care plan that exceeds thethreshold of $10,200 a year for individuals or $27,500 forfamilies. Though it won’t begin until 2020, andregulations may still change, many want to brace themselves for thetax’s potential impact — or avoid it altogether.

One major concern is whether the tax could lead to the end ofpretax benefits like HSAs or FSAs, because these types of benefitsare included in the overall tax calculation. Yet, if the tax isenacted as planned, removing pretax plans outright may not benecessary, since they won’t lead to a penalty if the tax isn’ttriggered by exceeding the threshold. In fact, accordingto the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premiums in 2015were $6,251 for individual coverage and $17,545 for familycoverage, which are well below the threshold for the Cadillac tax.Since the regulations may change and the results are still unknown,staying the course, while also staying informed, will be importantfor brokers and their clients in the years ahead.