Obamacare Case Study: Bring It On. We're Ready
Tusar Barik, co-founder of Maiden Media Group, says he's excited his company now has more choices under the Affordable Care Act.
Courtesy of Maiden Media Instagram
Maiden Media headquarters.
Maiden Media Group / Philadelphia
Co-founder: Tusar Barik
2012 revenue: $650,000
Employees: 11
Benefits costs in 2012: About $15,000
Estimated costs in 2014: $25,000
Founded in 2009, this advertising and marketing shop has been busy with digital and print work for clients in the food and energy industries, business services firms, and nongovernmental organizations. In 2012, revenue was $650,000, and three hires brought total head count to 11. The average employee age is 25; co-founder Tusar Barik, 27, is the resident grayhair.
Benefits Today
Maiden has offered health insurance from the beginning. "In our industry, it's kind of expected," says Barik. The company has already benefited from the ACA's requirement that employer health plans cover adult children of employees up to age 26. (The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 2.9 million young adults were covered in 2012 because of this provision, up from 2.3 million in 2011.) Several Maiden employees were able to get back on their parents' health plans in 2012, leaving only five people on the company's plan. The company's annual premiums--which jumped some 20 percent in 2012--are slightly more than $3,000 per individual; the company picks up 80 percent of the cost.
What's Next
"We're always going to offer health insurance," says Barik. "We're excited that the exchanges will give us more choices and potentially better rates." Of course, as employees age out of their parents' plans, the company will have more people to cover, but because Maiden's average wage is under $50,000 and the company has fewer than 25 employees, it could qualify for a small-business tax credit. "The ACA helped us when it passed and continues to help us today," Barik says. "When we get past 50 employees, we may have a different mentality."
