Decorah insurance agent is alerting the public to an Affordable Care Act penalty that kicks in in 2018

Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield has just announced a 10.7 percent rate increase for its small group health insurance plans for next year, due to the continuing increases in the cost of health care.

So Midwest Group Benefits representative Brian Huinker says Decorah area businesses ought to be figuring out their projected 2018 health insurance premiums now.  That's because businesses that offer expensive health care coverage to their employees--so called "Cadillac plans"--will be hit with a 40 percent excise tax in 2018 if the premium for individual health care coverage exceeds $10,200 a year or if the premium for family health care coverage exceeds $27,500 a year.

Midwest Group Benefits has just begun providing the so-called "Cadillac tax calculator" to its clients.

"People need to be addressing it now to avoid paying a penalty in 2018," Huinker tells decorahnews.com.  That's in part because, for instance, if their small business health plan premium costs $8,000 a year for an individual now, with the impact of rate hikes and inflation it could very well trigger the 40 percent tax in 2018.

Huinker says there are strategies to avoid paying the extra 40 percent excise tax in 2018, including switching now to a plan with a higher deductible.

In addition to dealing with a number of business clients about the health insurance plans they offer, Huinker has also been talking with governmental officials.  They often have employee unions whose contracts determine health insurance coverage, so Huinker says it's important to them to "get out in front of it."