[T]he bottom line of the health insurance/health care market is that it was too expensive for consumers and employers before the ACA; the ACA did not do anywhere near enough to reduce the costs, or even to slow the increase in costs; and this decision does nothing to control costs, and may contribute to increasing them.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act’s Individual Mandate as a Tax, Invalidates Penalty of Loss of Medicaid Funds to States That Opt out of Expansion
OSHA and NIOSH Warn of Silica Dangers in the Fracking Industry
This post was authored by Inna Shelley.
On June 21, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued a Hazard Alert addressing the health risks of exposure to airborne silica for workers employed on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” sites, in a process used to extract
ObamaCare Minimum Medical Loss Ratio Refunds Announced
Amid the ObamaCare Supreme Court decision watch, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the initial calculations of medical loss ratios (MLR) for the nation’s insurance companies. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, insurers must spend at least 85% of their premium income on paying benefits (80% in the individual and small
President Obama Announces New Immigration Policy
From an employer’s perspective there are many unanswered questions.
Continue Reading President Obama Announces New Immigration Policy
Read the Non-Compete: Ohio Supreme Court Limits the Ability of a Successor Company to Enforce Non-Compete Agreements
This post was co-authored by Inna Shelley.
Employers should have counsel review their non-compete agreements in order to ensure that a merger or other restructuring would not affect the successor company’s right to enforce the agreement. On May 24, the Ohio Supreme Court decided Accordia of Ohio, LLC v. Fischel, a case in which
Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs Continue to Threaten Healthcare Markets
This post was coauthored by Inna Shelley.
Princeton economics professor, Uwe E. Reinhardt, recently posted an interesting article on the New York Times “Economix” blog entitled “The Fork in the Road for Health Care.” The post discusses the seeming inevitability of healthcare rationing and attributes rising healthcare costs under employer-provided health policies to rising healthcare
The Legacy of “Specialty Healthcare”
This post was coauthored by Inna Shelley.
The National Labor Relations Board decision in the Specialty Healthcare case has continued paving the way for the certification of increasingly fragmented micro bargaining units. On May 4th, the director of NLRB Region 2 approved a collective bargaining unit of full-time and part-time salespersons in the women’s shoe
NLRB Quickie/Ambush/Speedy Election Rule Overturned
Since a quorum for the Board to conduct business is three members, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found the rule invalid.
Continue Reading NLRB Quickie/Ambush/Speedy Election Rule Overturned
Interesting background piece on savings options for health costs
It would be a good use of resources to make the current savings options for paying health expenses more effective and more coordinated.
Continue Reading Interesting background piece on savings options for health costs
EEOC Issues Guidelines on Criminal Background Checks
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has just issued new Guidelines on employers’ use of criminal records to make employment decisions. Despite the opposition of employer groups, its guidelines represent a significant restriction upon what the EEOC thinks employers can do, and how employers can justify to the EEOC their use of