Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

December 15, 2015
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Consumer-Friendly Features Added to HealthCare.Gov

As consumers count down to today's enrollment deadline for Jan. 1 coverage, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that new HealthCare.gov consumer decision support features piloted earlier this enrollment season are now fully deployed for all visitors.  The new Out-of-Pocket Cost calculator, Doctor and Facility Lookup, and Prescription Drug Lookup features will help c...
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December 14, 2015
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MLB Lawsuit Attracts 500 Minor League Signatories

Since winning class action certification in October, the lawsuit against Major League Baseball (MLB) over wage-and-hour issues for its minor leaguers has seen some 500 current and former players add their names, including a couple already in the big leagues. “We’re very happy with it,” said Garrett Broshuis, the lawyer handling the case, a former minor-league baseball player himself. “The feed...
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December 13, 2015
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Obamacare Penalties to Rise Sharply in 2016

Failure to obtain health care insurance for yourself and your family members can be fairly costly in 2016. The penalty for an individual not having coverage is $695. For a family, it's $695 per adult plus $347.50 per child, with a family maximum of $2,085. Such are the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). After 2016, however, the penalties are merely indexed for inflation...
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December 13, 2015
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Judge Expands Uber Lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen has expanded the lawsuit against Uber to include even those drivers in California who failed to opt out of the company's arbitration agreement. Previously, the class action suit against the ride-sharing service was limited only to drivers who never signed the arbitration agreement or who drove for Uber before the clause was added into the contract. The legal ac...
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December 13, 2015
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Proposed DOL Rule Receives No Public Comments

Suppose they issued a final rule and no one paid any attention. That's kind of what's happening with the Nov. 18 proposal by the Department of Labor (DOL) to give states a safe harbor to establish IRA-like retirement plans for companies and individuals with no other coverage. To date, no public comments have been tendered on the proposal, which has a 60-day commentary period still unfolding. ...
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December 11, 2015
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Obamacare Sign-Ups Already Surpass Dec. 15 Goal

Though critics claim the goal of 900,000 new Obamacare sign-ups by Dec. 15 was modest to begin with, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that the state and federal exchanges have already secured 1 million new enrollees. In all, 2.83 million have signed up this year, according to CMS. Dec. 15 is significant because that's the latest date at which coverage be...
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December 9, 2015
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WHD Now Demanding Liquidated Damages in Wage-and-Hour Settlements

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the wing of the Department of Labor (DOL) that enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), not only has beefed up its membership and its enforcement activities, but is now also demanding liquidated (doubled) damages in its settlements with employers over back wages. The FLSA has always provided for liquidated damages for back wages, but the WHD in the past g...
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December 8, 2015
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BLS Predicts Robust Job Growth in Health Care

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released employment projections data about the labor market from 2014 to 2024. Looking at the labor market 10 years in the future yields data and information job seekers can use when choosing a career or determining the education and training needed for job success, according to the BLS initiative. For example, fast-growing occupations show how the econ...
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December 6, 2015
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HHS to Release Consumer Rights Guidance on Health Records

As part of the Obama administration's Precision Medicine Initiative, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hopes to release by the end of the year four documents detailing consumer rights regarding their health records, according to Deven McGraw, HHS deputy director for health information privacy. She said the documents, likely in FAQ format, would cover four common areas of concer...
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December 4, 2015
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First Safety Violation Conspiracy Conviction of a CEO

Former Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship earned the dubious distinction yesterday of becoming the first CEO to be convicted of conspiracy to violate federal safety laws, though the charge is only a misdemeanor with a maximum one-year jail sentence. William Taylor, Blankenship's attorney, maintained that the "case never should have been brought," as it involved only corporat...
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DOJ Challenges EEOC's Stance on Disparate Impact Claims
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Department of Labor Issues 2026 Civil Penalty Update: No Adjustments This Year
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