Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.

COBRA Subsidy Extended & Eligibility Expanded

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

COBRA Subsidy Extended & Eligibility Expanded

Yesterday the Senate passed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 extending the COBRA subsidy provisions through March 31, 2010. The Act was previously passed by the House and now moves to the President for his signature. Employees who are involuntarily terminated between March 1 and March 31, 2010 and who lose group health coverage in connection with the involuntary termination are now eligible for the 15 month COBRA subsidy. Employers will need to amend their notices by replacing "February 28, 2010" with "March 31, 2010" and continue to utilize the subsidy notices through March 31, 2010.

The Act also expands who is eligible for the subsidy. Previously a reduction of hours that resulted in a loss of group health plan coverage did not entitle employees to the subsidy. Under the new Act's provisions, an employee who loses group health plan coverage as a result of a reduction in hours is eligible for the subsidy IF the employee is later involuntarily terminated. Under the previous subsidy provisions, this individual would not have been eligible because his/her qualifying event would have been reduction in hours and not an involuntary termination. The involuntary termination must occur after the Act's passage and presumably before March 31, 2010.

Employees who experienced a reduction in hours followed by an involuntary termination that occurred prior to the Act's passage are not eligible for the subsidy. For example, an employee whose hours were reduced in September 2009 and lost health plan coverage because he/she was no longer a full time employee and then was later terminated in January 2010 would not be eligible for the subsidy because the involuntary termination occurred before the Act's passage.

An employee who experienced a reduction of hours and did not elect COBRA but then is involuntarily terminated after the Act's passage would be eligible to elect COBRA starting with the date of the involuntary termination. The period of coverage, however, would be determined using the date the employee's hours were reduced. For example, if the employee lost coverage in September 2009 because of a reduction in hours and then is involuntarily terminated on March 3, 2010, the 18 month COBRA period (or 9 months for state continuation coverage) would begin to run from September 2009. The employee would be entitled to elect COBRA beginning March 2010 and COBRA would continue only for the remaining COBRA coverage period (in this example, 11 months for COBRA, 2 months for state continuation coverage). No pre-existing condition exclusions can be applied to their coverage. Employers will need to provide these employees with a special notice notifying them of their right to elect COBRA and their entitlement to the subsidy. We expect the Department of Labor to publish a model notice to assist employers with complying with this notice provision and will alert you when the notice is available.

If you have any questions regarding COBRA or administering the COBRA subsidy extension, please do not hesitate to contact Susan Freed at (515) 246-7891 or susanfreed@davisbrownlaw.com

Christopher James Speaking at National Business Institute Eontinuing Education

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Christopher E. James will be one of teh presenters at the National Business Institute (NBI) continuing education in Des Moines on May 25, 2010. The session, titled "Helping Your Client Select the Best Entity Option" will include multiple tracks. James' session will include comparison of entity options: advantages, disadvantages and consequences of entities including Limited Liability Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, C Corporations, S Corporations, and other entities. James will also address advantageous uses and entity selection for professional organization use.

More information on the seminar can be found at www.nbi-sems.com

Becky Knutson Presents at Technology Association Legal and Finance Clinic

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Becky S. Knutson will be co-presenting with Chris Fereday, PCDM Insurance and Midwest Tech Insure, on the topic "Employee Dishonesty in Times of Recession: Safeguards and Proper Handling."

Knutson's portion of the session will include investing employee theft and fraud, covenants not to compete, and severance agreements.

More information can be found at the Technology Association of Iowa website at www.technologyiowa.org.

IRC 48C Tax Credit Awards

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

On January 8, 2010, President Obama announced the award of $2.3 billion for new clean-tech manufacturing jobs. The Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit was awarded to one hundred eighty three projects in 43 states. Qualifying manufacturers will produce solar, wind, and geothermal energy equipment; fuel cells, microturbines, and batteries; electric cars; electric grids to support the transmission of renewable energy; energy conservation technologies; and equipment that captures and sequesters carbon dioxide or reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Contact Davis Brown attorney Jason M. Stone for more information about the IRC 48C Tax Credit program. Learn more about the award at the Department of Energy website.

Lori Chesser Presenting at Central Iowa Society for Human Resource Management Seminar

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Lori T. Chesser is presenting an immigration update at the 18th Annual Legal and Legislative Conference presented by Central Iowa SHRM and the Iowa State SHRM Council on February 23, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in West Des Moines, IA.

Learn more about the conference at the Central Iowa SHRM website.

Frequently Asked Questions About COBRA

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Susan Freed has developed a document of FAQ's and answers for employers about the extension of the COBRA subsidy provisions as well as examples illustrating how the subsidy extension applies to common situations encountered by employers.

Senate Passes the COBRA Subsidy Extension

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Over the weekend the Senate passed the COBRA subsidy extension. The bill now moves to the President for signature. Although the bill will not be effective until signed by President Obama, we have received numerous inquiries as to the bill's provisions and therefore are providing you with the following summary in advance of the bill's signing.

The final bill extends the maximum length of the subsidy from 9 to 15 months and extends eligibility for the subsidy to individuals who are involuntarily terminated on or before February 28, 2010, regardless of when they ultimately lose health insurance coverage. This means that individuals who are involuntarily terminated in February 2010 but who do not lose their health insurance coverage until March 1 or after, will still qualify for the subsidy. This is a significant change from ARRA's provisions which required that both the involuntary termination and loss of health coverage occur within the eligibility period.

Individuals who exhausted their 9 month subsidy in November and have paid the full amount of the COBRA premium in December must have the excess amount credited to their future COBRA premiums or receive a refund of the overpayment. The same is true for any overpayments made in subsequent months. Additionally, individuals whose 9 month subsidy expired in November and who did not pay the full premium in December now have 60 days from the date of the bill's enactment, or 30 days from the date they receive notice from their plan administrator, whichever is later, to pay the subsidized premiums. Plan administrators are required to notify individuals of these provisions.

Finally, the bill also requires plan administrators to notify individuals who were assistance eligible individuals at any time on or after October 31, 2009 or who experience a termination of employment on or after October 31, 2009 of these amendments. The notice must be provided within 60 days of the date of the bill's enactment for individuals whose termination of employment occurred prior to enactment or within the time frame for providing COBRA election notices for individuals whose termination of employment occurs on or after the date of enactment. We anticipate that in response to these new requirements the Department of Labor will be updating its sample notices and will notify you when these are available.

It should also be noted that as part of an appropriations package, the House has passed a provision extending the COBRA subsidy through June 30, 2010. The Senate is expected to act on this legislation next year which means we could see further changes to the COBRA subsidy provisions in 2010.

If you have any questions regarding the COBRA subsidy extension or its implementation, please do not hesitate to contact Susan Freed at (515) 246-7891.

Equal Employment Is the Law Poster Update

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

EEO Poster Update October 23, 2009

The Office of Legal Counsel has revised the "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law" Poster to reflect current federal employment discrimination law - including the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which is effective November 21, 2009. The revised Poster also includes updates from the Department of Labor.

OLC has also created a "Supplement," adding information on the ADAAA and GINA. Employers may post the "Supplement" alongside EEOC's September 2002 "EEO is the Law" Poster or OFCCP's August 2008 "EEO is the Law" Poster.

The revised Poster and the "Supplement" are available on eeoc.gov.

Please note that there are some other changes.
* The overall size of the Poster is now smaller - 11x17 vs. the old size of 13x18.

* There are several new ways for employers get the Poster. We are offering .pdf versions of the Poster that employers may print and post in their workplaces. We would like to encourage employers to use the print-to order version of the Poster - but we are not discouraging them from ordering from the Clearinghouse/ Publications Distribution Center.

There are several ways employers may comply with posting requirement.

* Employers may print the "Supplement" and post it alongside EEOC's September 2002 "EEO is the Law" Poster or OFCCP's August 2008 "EEO is the Law" Poster;
* They may print and post the new November 2009 version of the "EEO is the Law" Poster; or
* They may order a new Poster through the EEOC Clearinghouse/publications distribution center.

Please note that hard copies of the new EEOC Poster in English are currently on back order and will be shipped when they become available (before GINA becomes effective on November 21, 2009). The new Poster will also be available in Spanish, Chinese and Arabic before GINA becomes effective on November 21, 2009.

Electronic copies of the new print-to-order Poster and the "Supplement" in English are attached. However, please refer employers to the website http://www.eeoc.gov/posterform.html to get their copies.

Remember previous guidance from OLC states that it is not adequate for employers to provide an electronic version of the Poster to their employees and/or post it on their internal net - they must print it and post it in the workplace. They can do both if they want, but they still have to post it.

For more information, please contact Jo Ellen Whitney at the Davis Brown Law Firm.

Bill Kelly Presenting at Preventing Critical Financial Mistakes During Divorces

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Bill Kelly is presenting "failure to secure adequate legal assistance in handling qualified domestic relations' orders" at the National Business Institute (NBI) Preventing Critical Financial Mistakes During Divorces seminars. The sessions are in Cedar Rapids, IA on Thursday, December 3, 2009 and Des Moines on Friday, December 4, 2009.

More information can be found at www.nbi-sems.com.

Davis Brown attorney Nikki Mordini speaking at Iowa Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers seminar

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Nikki Mordini will be presenting an Immigration Law Update at the Iowa Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (IACDL) seminar "Anticipating Issues in Criminal Cases" in Des Moines on Thursday, November 12, 2009.

More information about the seminar can be found at the Drake Legal Clinic website.

Davis Brown Attorney Stanley Thompson on KCCI TV-8

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Stanley Thompson is shown on the Monday, November 9, 2009 top news story "Film Office Fiasco In Court" about Iowa Tax Credit litigation hearing.

The video can be viewed on the KCCI TV-8 website.

Jonathan Wilson Writes Des Moines Register Op-Ed "When grandpa is gay..."

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Jonathan Wilson wrote an Op-Ed for The Des Moines Register "When grandpa is gay, challenging old assumptions is inevitable." The story unfolds around the example of taking known information and testing it against the prohibitions that surround us.

Click here for the article at The Des Moines Register website.

Jonathan Wilson Conducted Seminar at Iowa Manufactured Housing Association

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

On November 9, 2009, Jonathan Wilson conducted a three hour seminar for attendees at the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association annual meeting on the topics of Advanced Issues in Landlord/Tenant Law and Creative Solutions to recurring property management problems. The seminar also addressed critical issues relating to installment sales of factory-built homes.

John Shors interviewed in "Taking the Biomass Route to Cut CO2 Emissions"

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney John Shors was interviewed in the Des Moines Business Record October 17, 2009 article "Taking the biomass route to cut CO2 emissions" by Joe Gardyasz.

The article can be found on the Business Record website.

Bill Kelly Co-Presents "Failure to Secure Adequte Legal Assistance"

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney William P. Kelly co-presents "Failure to Secure Adequate Legal Assistance in Handling Qualified Domestic Relations' Orders at the National Business Institute seminars in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines on December 3 and 4, 2009.

The materials include the following:

Cost of living adjustments;
Supplemental benefits;
Lump sum distribution options;
Using the Marriage Coverture Formula;
Pension accrual; and
Asset forfeitures.

Learn more about the seminars at www.nbi-sems.com.

SAVE THE DATE: Health Law Seminar October 22

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Save the date for the annual Health Law Seminar on Thursday, October 22, 2009. The event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston, IA from 10:30 a.m. to 4:25 p.m. A keynote presentation and lunch will be included.

We are pleased to announce Mary Jones, the Deputy Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health as our keynote speaker addressing the H1N1 virus at our annual Health Law Seminar. We are fortunate to have her in attendance and look forward to her insight and valuable advice

Topics include:

Fraud and Abuse for Long Term Care
Red Flags and HIPAA Compliance
Health Care Reform
Dependent Adult Abuse
Collection Actions
Funding and Financing for Health Care Facilities
Three Tips on Organized Labor in Health Care Organizations

For more information, contact Marc T. Hollander at 515.288.2500 or by e-mail at marchollander@davisbrownlaw.com.

New HIPAA Regulations Regarding Breach Notifications

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) modified HIPAA by requiring covered entities to notify individuals if their unsecured protected health information is breached. On August 24, 2009, the Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) issued interim regulations implementing these statutory provisions. Compliance with the new regulations is required by September 23, 2009. The following is a summary of the new requirements as well as action items that need to be completed by September 23, 2009.

For more information, download the associated document or contact Susan J. Freed at 515.288.2500.

Stan Thompson Writes Iowa Chapter in ABA Construction and Design Law Publication

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Davis Brown attorney Stan Thompson contributed the Iowa chapter of "A State By State Guide to Construction and Design Law: Current Statues and Practices," Second Edition.

The book is a treatise for attorneys in construction and design law including those with a multi-state practice.

Topics include:

Information for all fifty states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico;
contract preparation, negotiation or conflict resolution;
licensing and regulation for design and construction professions;
mechanic's liens;
statutory and case law governing contracting practices;
and financing, consumer protection, environmental matters including Brownsfields legislation, consumer protection, and ADR.

The book may be purchased at the American Bar Association website.

E-Verify Going into Effect for Federal Contractors Sept. 8

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The lawsuit against the federal government filed to stop the implementation of e-Verify requirements for federal contractors was dismissed late last week. Therefore, the requirement that all federal contractors register for e-Verify for contracts entered into after the effective date (Sept. 8, 2009) will go into effect.

For more on these subjects download the associated document, or contact Lori Chesser at (515) 288-2500.

Immigration Update Sept. 2009

info@lawiowa.com (Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Immigration Update Sept. 2009:

H-1B Numbers Hold Out, but DOL Bungles LCAs
R-1 Premium Processing Resumed
EB Priority Dates
Federal Contractors
ICE "no-match" regulation
New Visa Application Form Being Implemented
VWP Emergeny or Temporary Passports must be Electronic

For more on these subjects download the associated document, or contact Lori Chesser at (515) 288-2500.