Small Business Development Center hosts May 8 session on Affordable Care Act

The 2010 Affordable Care Act changed the landscape for health insurance in the United States, and the Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center will offer a three-hour workshop to help understand what those changes mean to small businesses in the northern Minnesota region.

The May 8 workshop, “What Every Small Business Needs to Know About the Affordable Care Act,” will be held from 9 a.m. – noon at the American Indian Resource Center on the campus of Bemidji State University. Cost to attend is $10 per person or $25 for a company with three or more attendees. Students are admitted free with a valid ID.

This session was originally scheduled for April 11, but was canceled due to poor weather conditions in the Bemidji area.

Providing health insurance to employees can provide a significant challenge to small businesses, which pay on average 18 percent more for identical coverage than larger firms due to lack of purchasing power. The act introduced a number of measures targeted specifically at small businesses, intended to slow the growth of premium costs and increase access to qualify for coverage.

The information session will include information on a variety of topics related to the Affordable Care Act, including health insurance exchanges, insurance taxes, the mandate for certain employers to provide qualifying health coverage to employees and employer requirements to enroll employees in health coverage and report that data to the federal government.

Information also will be provided on various new insurance rules going into effect, including essential health benefits, rating rules and more. Ample time will be offered for questions and answers following the main presentation.

The session is presented by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Minnesota Small Business Development Centers, Northwest Technical College and Bemidji State University.

To register for the workshops, contact Amanda Nygaard at the Northwest Small Business Development Center, anygaard@cord.edu, (218) 299-3037.

To learn more, contact the Northwest Small Business Development Center, (218) 755-4255, http://www.offuttschoolofbusiness.org/nwsbdc.

ABOUT THE SBDC
The Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center is one of nine regional offices throughout the state of Minnesota providing free, confidential, one-on-one business consulting services to existing and start-up businesses on a variety of business topics. The centers are a federal, state and locally funded program. The centers are hosted by Concordia College Offutt School of Business; the Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center has an office on the campus of Northwest Technical College in Bemidji. For more information, visit cord.edu/sbdc.

LINKS
NW Minnesota Small Business Development Center
Northwest Technical College on Google Maps
American Indian Resource Center on Google Maps

About Northwest Technical College
Northwest Technical College, located in northern Minnesota’s lake district, is an open, inviting technological learning organization. For more than 40 years, the college has valued life-long learning and the worth and dignity of all people. Its open-enrollment policy, affordable tuition and high-quality education have attracted a diverse group of learners; today, the College serves more than 1,600 learners. The college offers more than 40 degree programs in areas such as business, health, human and protective services and environmental and industrial technology career programs. Classes are offered on the Bemidji campus, online, or as a combination of both. NTC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. For more, visit ntcmn.edu.