07/26/10
Labor and Employment
Labor and Employment Law Update - July 2010
wage and hour, EEOC, final ADAAA regulations, tax credits under the Hire Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, OSHA revised regulations, i2p2, misclassification of workers, NLRB, unions
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07/01/10
Insurance Coverage and Risk Management
Supreme Court of Ohio Adheres to "All Sums" Allocation, Clarifies Contribution and Timely Notice Issues
Pennsylvania Gen. Ins. Co. v. Park-Ohio Industries, 2010-Ohio-2745
On June 22, 2010, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its decision in Pennsylvania Gen. Ins. Co. v. Park-Ohio Industries, 2010-Ohio-2745 ("Penn General"), in which the court followed and clarified the "all sums" approach adopted in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 95 Ohio St.3d 512, 2002-Ohio-2842, 769 N.E.2d 835 ("Goodyear").
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06/14/10
Medical Staff
New Wisconsin Law Creates Reporting Obligations for Physicians - And Concerns for Peer Reviewers, Managers, and Treatment Providers for Physicians
On June 2, 2010, a new Wisconsin law became effective that expands reporting obligations for providers licensed by the Medical Examining Board ("MEB"). 2009 Wisconsin Act 382 created a new statute under Wisconsin Chapter 448 ("Medical Practices") requiring a person licensed by the MEB to "promptly" submit a report to the MEB when the person has reason to believe any of the following about another physician:
1. The other physician is engaged in acts that constitute a pattern of unprofessional conduct.
2. The other physician is engaged in an act that creates an immediate or continuing danger to one or more patients or to the public.
3. The other physician is or may be medically incompetent.
4. The other physician is or may be mentally or physically unable to engage in the practice of medicine or surgery.
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04/21/10
Compensation and Benefits/ERISA
Health Care Reform Provides Federal Tax Relief for Adult Child Coverage
The new health care reform legislation signed by President Obama last month provided some tax simplification for Wisconsin employers that provide health care coverage to the children of their employees. Unfortunately, these changes will not be effective for determining Wisconsin income tax or Wisconsin income tax withholding until the Wisconsin legislature acts to adopt these federal changes.
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04/02/10
Health Law
New Patient Care Models Under Healthcare Reform
The mammoth healthcare reform legislation enacted by Congress on March 23, 2010, included a number of provisions aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare through a transformation of the healthcare delivery system. These provisions link payment under the Medicare program to quality outcomes, including value based purchasing programs, improvements to the physician quality reporting system and physician feedback program, and other quality reporting initiatives. In addition to these quality related reforms, the Act encourages development of new patient care models in a variety of ways. This article addresses the key elements of this latter strategy.
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03/31/10
Nonprofit and Tax Exemption
Healthcare Reform: Implications for Tax-exempt Hospitals
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 includes a set of sweeping changes applicable to charitable hospitals exempt under Section 503(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Act (a) imposes new eligibility requirements for 501(c)(3) hospitals, coupled with an excise tax for failures to meet certain of those requirements; (b) requires mandatory IRS review of the hospitals' entitlement to exemption; (c) sets forth new reporting requirements on the hospitals involving community health needs assessments and audited financial statements; and (d) imposes further reporting requirements on the Secretary of the Treasury regarding charity care levels. Most of the changes in the Act are scheduled to go into effect for tax years beginning after March 23, 2010, the date of enactment.
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02/26/10
Labor and Employment
Victory in ERD Challenge to Running State and Federal FMLA Concurrently
As several of our clients have encountered, recently employees and their counsel have argued that a woman can choose to take her federal Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") leave and her Wisconsin FMLA leave consecutively. The situation most often presents itself when a woman requests time off during pregnancy, before the birth of a child, but wants to "save" her six weeks of Wisconsin FMLA leave to use upon the birth of her child. In one case in which von Briesen & Roper represented the employer, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Equal Rights Division ("ERD") advised an employee that she could "stack" her state and federal FMLA leave in this way. In fact, the ERD found probable cause to believe there had been a violation of the Wisconsin FMLA when an employer told an employee that her state and federal FMLA pregnancy leaves would run concurrently when taken in the 16 weeks before the birth of her child. Our client stood by its position that the federal and state FMLA laws run concurrently when the leave qualifies for protection under both laws and went to a hearing on the merits.
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02/25/10
Labor and Employment
Labor and Employment Law Update - February 2010
The February 2010 Labor and Employment Law Update focuses on The "Pros" and "Cons" of Social Networking for Employers and New Employment-Related Matters of Note.
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02/16/10
Compensation and Benefits/ERISA
Extending Health Benefits to Children and Domestic Partners Who Are Not Tax Dependents
Historically, employers extending group health plan coverage to the dependents of employees limited the availability of that coverage to individuals who qualified as dependents of employees for purposes of the federal income tax laws applicable to employer-sponsored group health plans. Either by choice or to comply with government mandates, however, employers are increasingly extending dependent coverage to individuals who do not qualify as dependents of employees for purposes of those tax rules ("Non-tax Dependents). Covering Non-tax Dependents can present some significant tax issues and complications for employers.
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12/23/09
Nonprofit and Tax Exemption
IRS Compliance Guide for 501(c)(3) Public Charities
The IRS has created a guidance document for leaders in nonprofit organizations. Although long and a bit technical, it is a good "one source" reference for a nonprofits' operations, reporting and tax filing requirements, including what may jeopardize recognition of the nonprofits' tax exempt status. For your organization or for those nonprofits you serve, review and discussion of the booklet may be a good New Year's discussion topic, or at least worth sending this document out to the board.
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