Part time w2 benefits?

[Nysoz]

So I’m in talks with my hospital for the transition to go from full time to part time.

New contract will have me come back to the area for some consecutive days of call a month.

They’ll pay/reimburse for flights hotel car rental and a fair daily rate. Also pay for tail malpractice insurance.

Looks like they’ll keep me on as a part time w2 employee as long as they’ll need me. So as such, sounds like they don’t have to offer benefits such as health insurance or 401k.

Some things on my mind.

For health insurance should we go on my wife’s plan for a month or two while we finish our time here, go to the Aca marketplace for short term, or get cobra? Once we move, then we’ll get on my wife’s new job health insurance. Sounds like it might take up to 90 days for new insurance to kick in?

Looking at the secure act, I don’t think my employer has to offer me a 401k plan. The secure act opens 401k to part time employees but they have to work 500 hours annually for 3 years. Previous years don’t count from what I understand. If I don’t have a 401k option it doesn’t seem like there’s much else for tax advantage space for me besides the bd Roth. Otherwise I should be able to keep my current 401k where it is now.

Since I’m w2 part time, does that limit what I can take as deductions? Such as cme trips/licensing fees and such? Even though they’re reimbursing me/paying for travel expenses how much of the travel expenses can I deduct on taxes?

Anything else should I consider?

[Hatton]

You need to compare the costs and the coverage of your different options. In general for a high income person the ACA plan will be high. Cobra is usually high also. It just really depends. I am on my last employers COBRA and it costs $650/mo.. It is not increased for age or health conditions. If your wife's plan will let you on for 2 months that is great. You need to check. My last job was part-time W2. I was able to fund retirement and get health insurance.

[wideopenspaces]

My understanding of cobra is that you don't have to pay a premium on it unless you actually use it. Within a certain time frame. So you could have no insurance with back up to do cobra if medical care is needed before y'all get on your wife's new health insurance. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nysoz]

Your employer has 44 days from your last day of work or last day of insurance coverage (whichever is later) to send out COBRA information. But it’s a good idea to check in with your benefits manager a couple of weeks after you leave.

You’ll have 60 days to enroll in COBRA — or another health plan — once your benefits end. But keep in mind that delaying enrollment won’t save you money. COBRA is always retroactive to the day after your previous coverage ends, and you’ll need to pay your premiums for that period too. One advantage of enrolling right away is that you can keep seeing doctors and filling prescriptions without a break in coverage.
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From that it seems like there’s a 2 month window where if anything should happen and needed insurance I could pay the owed premiums and get the cobra insurance coverage retroactively.

I’ll have to see the premiums for cobra and for a plan on the marketplace. Maybe I can sign up for a hdhp and qualify for an hsa that I can fully fund.

[White.Beard.Doc]

The availability of benefits for part time employees varies quite a bit by employer.

For a current employer, if you go from full time to part time, they have to continue to cover your health benefits under ACA (per HR). Otherwise you have to work over 30 hrs per week to first qualify. But once on benefits, you can keep health coverage if you transition to PT.

At the university, if your salary was over 50k per year, they offered full benefits. A doc could get that on one day a week, part time.

[Nysoz]

Example 4: An employee changes from full-time to part-time on June 2 6 t h , 2021. They would be eligible to continue active health insurance through 12/31/21. If they work an average of 30 or more hours per week during the current measurement period (10/4/20-10/2/21), they will be eligible to continue active health insurance throughout the following stability period as well (1/1/22-12/31/22).
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Now does that mean if I go part time june 26, then nothing changes to my health insurance premiums or coverage until 12/31?

Edit. Side note that it’s silly that I have to think this hard and plan for health insurance.

[wideopenspaces]

Example 4: An employee changes from full-time to part-time on June 2 6 t h , 2021. They would be eligible to continue active health insurance through 12/31/21. If they work an average of 30 or more hours per week during the current measurement period (10/4/20-10/2/21), they will be eligible to continue active health insurance throughout the following stability period as well (1/1/22-12/31/22).
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Now does that mean if I go part time june 26, then nothing changes to my health insurance premiums or coverage until 12/31?

Edit. Side note that it’s silly that I have to think this hard and plan for health insurance.

Yes, it sounds like you would be covered until 12/31.

And I agree it's silly. When I switched from resident to attending working 0.75fte at my program I took about 3 months off and they just covered my insurance during that time and I had full benefits as long as I worked 0.5fte.

[SLC OB]

Example 4: An employee changes from full-time to part-time on June 2 6 t h , 2021. They would be eligible to continue active health insurance through 12/31/21. If they work an average of 30 or more hours per week during the current measurement period (10/4/20-10/2/21), they will be eligible to continue active health insurance throughout the following stability period as well (1/1/22-12/31/22).
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Now does that mean if I go part time june 26, then nothing changes to my health insurance premiums or coverage until 12/31?

Edit. Side note that it’s silly that I have to think this hard and plan for health insurance.

I'm wondering if you will qualify until 12/31/22... if you are currently full time doc, then how do they calculate your 30 hours? If they count call coverage, your average from Oct 2020 until Oct 2021, with only July, Aug, and Sept being part time, you likely will hit that 30 hours/week. Just a thought...

[Nysoz]

I'm wondering if you will qualify until 12/31/22... if you are currently full time doc, then how do they calculate your 30 hours? If they count call coverage, your average from Oct 2020 until Oct 2021, with only July, Aug, and Sept being part time, you likely will hit that 30 hours/week. Just a thought...

I don’t think they count the time I’m on call. Currently my salary is for 40 hours a week at a fixed rate. From what I understand they don’t average it out over a year, I think there’s a 3 month qualifying period or something.

So I guess it depends on how they calculate my part time hours. Either a similar 40 hours a week prorated to the number of days on call vs total hours on call.

Either way, if I’m good until 12/31/21 then by that time my wife’s new insurance should kick in.

[jfoxcpacfp]

Since I’m w2 part time, does that limit what I can take as deductions? Such as cme trips/licensing fees and such? Even though they’re reimbursing me/paying for travel expenses how much of the travel expenses can I deduct on taxes?

W2 employees cannot deduct business expenses.

[Hatton]

When I was part time the health insurance was based on 0.6 FTE or 3 days per week. The pay periods were every 2 weeks so 6 days over 2 weeks.

[Nysoz]

So I'll just have to clarify with HR/benefits when I finalize my contract. Seems like my current insurance and premiums should last through 12/31 then have the option of cobra 45-60 days after that. Then hopefully by that time, the wife's new insurance should kick in.

[StateOfMyHead]

When I was part time the health insurance was based on 0.6 FTE or 3 days per week. The pay periods were every 2 weeks so 6 days over 2 weeks.

I've had part time at 0.5FTE 20h per week which is becoming rarer now but around here most hospitals still offer part-time benefits at 24-32h per week. It might be worth it for OP to inquire about the required hours for part-time with benefits which would solve the issue and also add benefit to the reimbursement package. It sounds like now they will be working for same rate, less ~$25,000 year or whatever OP's benefits were worth. Its like going from staff to casual I would need more money to make up for lack of benefits.

[Nysoz]

So I did clarify. So I'll be categorized as PRN w2 and not part time. So no health insurance or 401k match, but I'll still be able to contribute to my plan. Looks like I'll just get the cobra insurance for a few months until the new insurance kicks in. I don't think it's worth the $2k difference in premium to try and apply through the marketplace for that short of period of time.

[billy]

why prn w2 vs 1099 then? are they paying your malpractice?