A LITTLE KNOWN MANDATE IN THE NEW HEALTH CARE LAW

 As the new health care act now stands, beginning in 2013 a dentist/owner with fewer than 50 employees does not have to provide staff health insurance.  Any employer with over 50 employees must provide health insurance for employees or face fines from the federal government.  This has been clearly understood by most people.  However, many are  unaware that the dentist will no longer get an income tax deduction for his/her own individual or family health care premiums unless health coverage is provided for staff also.  The average savings in income taxes for an individual dentist has been $7000/year.  One can see that many practitioners will experience a change, either pay more in income tax (no deduction for family health care premiums) or provide comparable health insurance for staff .  Check with your CPA to understand details of this little-known mandate.