A web site maintained by the Employee Benefit Department of the Chicago, Illinois law firm, Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa, provides information on: employment and employment law, group health insurance (including COBRA and HIPAA), pension and retirement plans (including IRAs, 401(k) plans, thrift plans, ESOPs and IRS compliance resolution system filings), health care reform, ERISA and ERISA compliance (including benefit claims and fiduciary duties), qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs), age discrimination and gender discrimination executive compensation (including deferred compensation and non-compete agreements as well as Section 409A compliance), other state and federal employment matters, including ADA, ADEA and Illinois employment law. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/ law, legal 2003-2010 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us Tue, 8 Nov 2011 21:26:39 -0600 Tue, 8 Nov 2011 21:25:57 -0600 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.1.0) http://www.feedforall.com Looking ahead, it is not too early for employers, benefit plan administrators, HR professionals and plan service providers to consider compliance issues that require attention by the end of 2011. There are challenging new disclosure requirements for both group health and retirement plans as well as interim amendments to retirement plan documents that need to be considered now. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2011/2011_year_end_compliance_checklist.htm 8FBA968D-5589-46A3-AD0A-D1F9D51FD9DF Tue, 8 Nov 2011 21:25:57 -0600 Recent studies have determined that a typical married employee will have to fund an average of $260,000 in post-retirement medical expenses over the balance of the employee’s and spouse’s lifetime. The expenditures include the costs of Medicare premiums, Medicare supplemental coverage, Medicare deductibles and co-payments and long term care expenses. These amounts are typically funded from retirement vehicles such as pension plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). However, retirement income from these sources is fully taxable to the employee. Is there a better way to fund these medical expenses? http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2011/the_VEBA_Solution.htm 7D3CE239-DC65-4EDF-95EF-C84D611A3F92 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:41:49 -0500 A recent Seventh Circuit case, Howell v. Motorola, Inc., considers the effect of a release signed by an employee in exchange for receipt of a severance payment. The release complied with the general Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and its terms applied to, among other things, any claim for pay, benefits or damages arising under federal law (including ERISA) but not “any claims for benefits under the Motorola employee benefit plan. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2011/rethinking-ERISA-releases.htm A2EC69D9-86CA-4610-A40F-EC742D7256B5 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:57:49 -0500 Health Care Reform legislation (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or “PPACA”) imposes additional claims processing requirements on subject group health plans and insurers. There are new claims notices, revised procedures and, for self-funded ERISA plans, a Federal external claims review requirement. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2011/PPACA-New-Claim-Requirements.htm F80CC2C2-2C3E-4C9E-B414-A22351A82E94 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:57:11 -0500 Most of us think of 2010 as being the year of Health Care Reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, or PPACA. While year end action is required for PPACA compliance (for calendar year plans), a number of other areas require attention as well http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/benefits_compliance_checklist_2010.htm 012E512A-68EA-40BC-93B7-B70936AE1CD8 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:49:48 -0600 Periodic updates of Health Care Reform as it unfolds, from Chicago Benefits Law Attorney Andrew S. Williams. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/health-care-reform.htm C6B80A8F-1C9E-45DE-868F-8E366ACD74B3 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:19:26 -0600 Unless you frequent tanning salons, it is likely that the Health Care Reform legislation, PPACA (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), has had no impact on you or your health insurance coverage. The first real steps towards PPACA’s implementation are effective for plan years starting on or after September 23, 2010, including new health plans adopted on or after that date http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/health-care-reform-good-bad-ugly.htm 63E666BE-099C-4464-ABA9-9ED68F8FE787 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:22:21 -0500 Health Care Reform (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) will not kick into high gear until 2014, but plan sponsors and HR staff need to take compliance action now. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/health-care-reform-2010.htm 4CCE76F6-ADBF-4D77-AB6E-E92D91019B9C Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:44:56 -0500 The Department of Labor issued a determination that "mooning" a co-worker did not amount to "gross misconduct" that would disqualify her from COBRA continuation coverage. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/COBRA-gross-misconduct.htm FF90F162-71D9-48C9-9E0C-AC1FCE1AE3E5 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:39:53 -0500 The future of “cross tested” retirement plans, a staple of entrepreneurial small businesses, hangs in the balance because of pending legislation currently being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. At issue is The Retirement Fairness Act of 2009, which proposes the elimination of cross testing in addition to other pension reforms. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/Congress-Listens-to-Small-Business-Retirement-Plan-Sponsors.htm E977CEA2-AC76-4C64-888D-0B8D25984BFF Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:31:47 -0500 The new health care reform law contains an income tax credit for small employers (those with 24 or fewer “full time equivalent” employees with an average compensation of less than $50,000). This tax credit is available effective January 1, 2010. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/June/health-care-mandates-for-small-business.htm A332D2C7-3D29-4481-86AF-D44FBAA15E1D Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:30:56 -0500 Health Care Reform is here and group health plans will need to provide dependent coverage for children up to age 26. This coverage is mandatory for plans that currently provide coverage for dependent children, and is effective starting with the first plan year beginning after September 23, 2010 (that is January 1, 2011 for calendar year plans). http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/June/health-care-reform-adult-child-coverage.htm B5038FD0-3E6F-4D72-88CA-84AC62A32E01 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:29:53 -0500 Benefits Law Group of Chicago is a resource for HR professionals and human resource departments of private companies and not-for-profit organizations such as hospitals and medical centers, universities, associations and charitable organizations http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/ A69A9F74-9B05-4C09-949E-381640C4F1C5 Tue, 4 May 2010 19:50:01 -0500 The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment, or HIRE Act, is law and provides some attractive tax incentives to employers seeking to add to their workforce... http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/HIRE-Act-Employment-Incentives.htm C5613EB8-4BFA-4358-84B4-072069DB14D7 Tue, 4 May 2010 19:57:29 -0500 Health care reform contains a new income tax credit that is available now, and available only to small businesses... http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/small-business-health-care-tax-credit.htm 2F202970-6B0B-4E33-97A3-D3BF71AD2A0B Tue, 4 May 2010 19:59:08 -0500 A further extension of the COBRA subsidy “eligibility period” from March 31, 2010 through May 31, 2010 has been signed into law as of April 14, 2010. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/COBRA-subsidy.htm E9C2FFAF-B0C8-4572-B98F-7ABFB7E33B64 Tue, 4 May 2010 19:59:46 -0500 New federal regulations and legislation relating to the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) are in effect as of January 16, 2009. These new requirements are extensive and complicated, but they do require basic action that all covered employers must take now. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/FMLA.htm DFDF83DC-2DB2-4290-9E34-0BE90093A2AB Tue, 4 May 2010 20:00:26 -0500 A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago underscores the care that needs to be exercised in preparing health plan documents. http://www.benefitslawgroupofchicago.com/HTML/2010/plan-documents-2-2010.htm B6E6B414-6711-493A-97ED-EB4B4FA514E1 Tue, 4 May 2010 20:01:17 -0500