Articles by Girish Anand

February 14, 2014

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NYT, CNN Say 20 Percent of Obamacare Enrollees Haven't Paid

In a report this week, the New York Times, citing health industry insiders, says that 20 percent of enrollees in health insurance policies on the state and federal marketplaces have failed to make their premium payments. In an earlier report, cable broadcaster CNN also claimed 20 percent had failed to honor their premiums. For its part, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS...

February 13, 2014

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1.1 Million Obamacare Sign-Ups Reported in January

The government reported 1.1 million sign-ups for Obamacare in January, bringing the total to 3.3 million since the launch of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces in October, short of the 4.4 million projected. Of the 3.3 million total, California has contributed a whopping 728,000, far outstripping any other state. Of the 3.3 million enrollees, some 82 percent have qualified for sub...

February 11, 2014

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Obamacare Mandate Delayed for Mid-Sized Firms

The Obamacare shared responsibility provision (aka "play or pay"), originally set to begin this Jan. 1 but delayed this past summer until Jan. 1, 2015, has now been delayed again, but only for employers with 50 to 99 employees. Mid-sized employers now won't have to comply until Jan. 1, 2016. The shared responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was written to ...

February 10, 2014

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Attorney General Extends Same-Sex Spousal Protections

same-sex marriage

Attorney General Eric Holder today is expected to issue a directive recognizing the rights of same-sex spouses in the U.S. judicial system. This will mean that same-sex couples can no longer be required to testify against one another in federal court. They will also be granted the same rights in Bankruptcy Court as heterosexual couples are. The rights will extend throughout the federa...

February 6, 2014

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OSHA Going After Family Farms and Senators Object

A group of 43 U.S. Senators is asking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to refrain from reclassifying family farms as commercial grain handlers to get around a Congressional edict that farms with fewer than 10 employees be exempt from OSHA regulations. Since 1976, Congress has repeatedly inserted language in appropriations bills to exclude these "family farms&q...

February 5, 2014

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NLRB Proposes Amendments to Speed Workplace Organizing

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced today that it is issuing proposed amendments to its rules and regulations governing representation-case procedures. In substance, the proposed amendments are identical to the representation procedure changes first proposed in June 2011. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow. ...

February 5, 2014

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CMS Issues Call to Obamacare Insurers to Expand Their Network of Providers

In a letter to all insurers offering health insurance policies on HealthCare.gov, the federal Obamacare marketplace, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday asked the insurance providers to include more federally funded health clinics, safety-net hospitals and other medical providers used by low-income people to their network of service providers. At the same time, ...

February 4, 2014

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CBO Estimates That Obamacare Will Result in 2.5 Million Fewer Full-Time Jobs

In a report issued today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) will result in a net fewer 2.5 million full-time jobs over the next decade. The report calculates the number based on persons choosing not to work because of more available health care coverage and on employees choosing to work fewer hours. This decline in hours w...

February 3, 2014

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HHS Strengthens Patients' Access to Lab Results

As part of an ongoing effort to empower patients to be informed partners with their health care providers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken action to give patients or a person designated by the patient a means of direct access to the patient’s completed laboratory test reports. “The right to access personal health information is a cornerstone of the ...

February 1, 2014

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EPA to Trim 1,000 Positions With Buyouts of Up to $25K

Unlike the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not expanding but going the opposite way, with up to 1,000 staff positions to be cut at 19 offices and locations across the country, the Federal Times is reporting. The cuts will target employees at the GS-13 to GS-15 levels and will feature standard early retirement packages, alo...

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About author

Girish Anand

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

U.S. Department of Labor Officially Restores Prior Overtime Exemption Rules

On May 14th, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it has officially rescinded the 2024 overtime exemption rules. Specifically, the WHD published a technical amendment to restore previous 2019 regulations that dictated overtime exemptions for...

NLRB General Counsel Takes Action to Tackle Current Case Backlog

On May 6th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and NLRB General Counsel Crystal Stowe Carey announced the bulk transfer of thousands of labor practice cases. Specifically, this action fulfills an initiative signed by the NLRB General Counsel earlier this year. Overall, the initiative...

Privacy Agency Invites Comments from Businesses on the CCPA’s Usage of Personal Data

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DOL Proposes New Joint Employer Rule To Unify Standards Under Federal Labor Laws

In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to establish a single, clear standard for determining when joint-employer status applies under three major federal laws: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal...

DOL Updates Enforcement Approach for Employee Benefit Plans: What Employers Should Know

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a significant change in its enforcement of employee benefit plan rules. The DOL will now focus more closely on serious violations that harm workers and retirees, meaning compliant employers may face less scrutiny under the updated approach.

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Articles by Girish Anand