Landscape Management, October 2013
administration delayed the employer mandate provision which requires employers with 50 or more full time equivalent employees to provide health insurance for their workers or pay a 2000 penalty per employee Implementation of this provision has been put off from 2014 until 2015 which buys employers time in the short term but doesnt take away any uncertainty Andrew Ziehler owner of Ziehler Lawn Tree Care in Centerville Ohio has 16 employees and is struggling with anticipated health insurance costs What were facing here in 2014 is going to be an outrageous amount of increase in costs he says His company may see 60 percent to 80 percent increases for its group health care plan premiums For that reason hes toying with the idea of dropping the plan so his employees can go to the state health insurance exchanges mandated by the ACA and buy insurance GREEN INDUSTRY PURCHASING HABITS LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2013 S22 there more affordably Enrollment for these exchanges begins Oct 1 It will raise big questions as to what we provide as health care benefits through our business in the next few years Ziehler says of the ACA On the other hand Dahlkemper has seen his health insurance premiums go down some which he credits to the ACA Even so hes looking forward to his state exchange He expects it will allow some of his employees to get better rates which could lessen the burden on the business The bottom line Chepurny says is you have to shop the insurance every year Were constantly staying on top of that he says At the end of the day somebody has to pay for the costs and we try to recoup those through our work and production by raising our prices LM Additional reporting by Sarah Pfledderer Equipment type purchased in will purchase in last 12 months next 12 months Mowers 57 45 Construction equipment attachments 20 22 Sprayers spreaders 46 28 Aerators 17 17 Handheld equipment 74 52 Truck trailers 54 54 Alternative fuel equipment or vehicles 7 6 Trees shrubs 69 61 Annuals perennials 63 60 Turf seed sod 67 62 Hardscape products 57 53 Water feature supplies 32 35 Landscape lighting 44 48 Irrigation systems and products 46 42 Herbicides 62 57 Insecticides 50 47 Fungicides 43 40 Fertilizers fertilizer pesticide combos 66 58 Plant growth regulators 18 17 Tree care chemicals 23 24 Snow ice control equipment and products 34 33 Computers business design software 48 37 Mobile phones handheld device 57 35 GPS systems software 23 16 Consulting services 19 18 Subcontracted services 45 39
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