GINA |

OSHA Citation Of Michigan VA Reminder To Manage Workplace Safety

March 1, 2013

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citation of the Battle Creek Veterans Administration Medical Center, following a safety inspection conducted in July as part of OSHA’s Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program for seven notices of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions reminds employers that OSHA expects employers to maintain safe workplaces.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, federal agencies must comply with the same safety standards as private-sector employers. According to OSHA, its inspection uncovered several repeat safety violations, as well as certain other serious safety violations.

OSHA reports that three repeat safety violations involved failing to evaluate the workplace to identify if permit-required confined spaces were present and label such spaces with danger signs; failing to adequately guard automated laundry equipment to prevent employees from entering the work area, and failing to fully guard the belt and pulley of an air compressor. To issue notices for repeat violations, OSHA must have issued at least one other notice for the same violation at one of the agency’s establishments within the same standard industrial classification code, commonly known as the SIC code. OSHA previously has cited U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in Danville and North Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis, Minnesota for the same safety and health violations.

The serious safety violations found included three serious safety violations for unguarded floor openings in the general repair shop; failing to inspect powered industrial trucks prior to placing them in service, and failing to remove trucks from service in need of repair. Additionally, OSHA found a circuit breaker panel was not mounted correctly. OSHA issues a serious notice when it finds a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Beyond the repeated and serious violations, OSHA reports it also found one other-than-serious violation for failing to close unused openings on electrical cabinets and junction boxes. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The medical center has 15 business days from receipt of the notices to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or appeal the notices by submitting a summary of the agency’s position on the unresolved issues to OSHA’s regional administrator.

While the medical center and other federal agencies are required to comply with the same OSHA rules as private sector employers, the VA and other federal agencies don’t face the same liabilities when cited. OSHA cannot propose monetary penalties against another federal agency for failure to comply with OSHA standards.

The risks for private sector employers is illustrated by another recent OSHA. OSHA recently cited Riddell All-American Sports Co. with eight serious violations following an OSHA investigation, which found that the company exposed workers to multiple safety and health hazards at its San Antonio facility. The violations include failing to ensure electrical equipment was free from recognized hazards, provide adequate machine guarding while employees operate industrial sewing machines and provide a fall protection program to prevent falls from the basket of a powered industrial truck. The Elyria, Ohio-based company, which employs about 25 workers in San Antonio, paints helmets for various sports. Proposed penalties total $44,000. Read the News Release.

Since private sector employers that don’t enjoy the VA’s immunity liability run much greater risks for failing to maintain workplace safety, including significant civil and in the case of a workplace death, potentially even criminal penalties, private sector hospitals and other organizations should exercise special care to ensure appropriate safety in their workplaces. “The Battle Creek Veterans Administration Medical Center failed to properly ensure the facility was in compliance with established safety and health procedures,” said Robert Bonack, director of OSHA’s Lansing Area Office. “All employers, including federal employers, are responsible for knowing what hazards exist in their facilities and taking appropriate precautions by following OSHA standards so workers are not exposed to such hazards.”

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

If you need help in conducting a risk assessment of or responding to an IRS, DOL, Justice Department, or other federal or state agencies or other private plaintiff or other legal challenges to your organization’s existing workforce classification or other labor and employment, compliance, employee benefit or compensation practices, please contact the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer here or at (469) 767-8872 .

Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, management attorney and consultant Ms. Stamer is nationally and internationally recognized for more than 23 years of work helping employers; employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; and others design, administer and defend innovative workforce, compensation, employee benefit and management policies and practices. The Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Committee, a Council Representative on the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Government Affairs Committee Legislative Chair for the Dallas Human Resources Management Association, past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Ms. Stamer often has worked, extensively on these and other workforce and performance related matters. She also is recognized for her publications, industry leadership, workshops and presentations on these and other human resources concerns and regularly speaks and conducts training on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, and many other national and local publications. For more information about Ms. Stamer and her experience or to get access to other publications by Ms. Stamer see here or contact Ms. Stamer directly at (469) 767-8872 or via e-mail here.

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

Solutions Law Press, Inc.™ provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, compensation, data security and privacy, health care, insurance, and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and other key operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested in exploring other Solutions Law Press, Inc. ™ tools, products, training and other resources here and reading some of our other Solutions Law Press, Inc.™ human resources news here including the following:

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

Wal-Mart Settlement Shows ADA Risks When Considering Employee Return To Work Accommodation Requests & Inquiries

February 25, 2013

From handling requests for light duty or other modifications follow a leave to investigating the medical justification for leaves or the fitness of an employee to return to work following a medical absence, employers need to use care to manage disability discrimination exposures.

Today’s announcement by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. (Wal-Mart) will pay $50,000 in back pay and damages to settle an EEOC disability discrimination lawsuit highlights the potential disability discrimination risks that employers can face when deciding not to provide a requested accommodation to a worker returning from medical leave while other recent enforcement actions show ADA risks from simply making medical inquiries to a worker on or returning from medical leave.

In its lawsuit against Wal-Mart, Case No. 2:11-CV-00834, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, the EEOC charged that a Carlsbad, N.M Wal-Mart store violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) by firing a part-time sales clerk, Marcia Arney because the store refused to provide temporary accommodations ordered by her physician following a period of medical leave.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, when Arney, a 22-year Wal-Mart employee, showed the store manager a note from her doctor requesting an accommodation involving periodic breaks off her feet, the manager refused to return her to her job unless she obtained a medical release with no restrictions. The EEOC claims that had Wal-Mart inquired further, it would have known the accommodation need was temporary and in any case, that Wal-Mart easily could have accommodated the restriction.

Under the consent decree settling the suit, Wal-Mart will conduct annual live ADA training of management officials at its Carlsbad store and post a notice on its agreement with the EEOC so that employees are aware of procedures for reporting disability discrimination. Wal-Mart also committed to not require disabled workers to produce a full release from their doctor upon returning from a medical leave. Further, Wal-Mart agreed to engage in an interactive process with disabled employees to find a reasonable accommodation to assist them in performing their jobs and to report future requests for accommodation, as well as charges and lawsuits alleging disability discrimination to the EEOC for the duration of the decree.

Title I of the ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of disability in various aspects of employment. The ADA’s provisions on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations reflect Congress’s intent to protect the rights of applicants and employees to be assessed on merit alone, while protecting the rights of employers to make sure that individuals in the workplace can efficiently perform the essential functions of their jobs. An employer generally violates the ADA if it requires its employees to undergo medical examinations or submit to disability-related inquiries that are not related to how the employee performs his or her job duties, or if it requires its employees to disclose overbroad medical history or medical records. Title I of the ADA also generally requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ and applicants’ disabilities as long as this does not pose an undue hardship or the employer the employer otherwise proves employing a disabled person with reasonable accommodation could not eliminate significant safety concerns. Employers generally bear the burden of proving these or other defenses. Employers are also prohibited from excluding individuals with disabilities unless they show that the exclusion is consistent with business necessity and they are prohibited from retaliating against employees for opposing practices contrary to the ADA. Violations of the ADA can expose businesses to substantial liability.

As reflected by the Wal-Mart, violations of the employment provisions of the ADA may be prosecuted by the EEOC or by private lawsuits and can result in significant judgments. Disabled employees or applicants that can prove they fully were denied reasonable accommodations or otherwise subjected to prohibited disability discrimination under the ADA generally can recover actual damages, attorneys’ fees, and up to $300,000 of exemplary damages (depending on the size of the employer).

The lawsuit against Wal-Mart is part of a wave of lawsuits in which the EEOC or other agencies under the Obama Administration are aggressively challenging medical examination and other medical screenings by private and public employers. In the Wal-Mart case, the suit challenged an employer’s refusal to provide requested accommodations. In other cases, however, the EEOC or other agencies under the Obama Administration also have challenged medical inquiries made by an employer to employees during or returning from leave. Both types of suits send clear signals that employers should use care in making medical inquiries and responding to requests for accommodation from employees taking or returning from medical leaves. See, e.g., Employer Pays $475,000 To Settle ADA Discrimination Lawsuit Challenging Medical Fitness Testing For EMTs, Firefighters & Other Public Safety Worker’s.

To help mitigate the expanded employment liability risks , businesses generally should act to manage their exposures. Management needs to recognize the likely need to defend medical inquiries, decisions to refuse accommodation requests or other similar actions that arise when dealing with employees taking or returning from medical leave due to a disability, illness or injury. Employers need to critically check and document the legitimate business justification for making a medical inquiry or refusing a requested accommodation based on a well-documented investigation and analysis tailored to the specific situation of each requesting employee.

Businesses also should consider tightening their documentation regarding their procedures and processes governing the collection and handling records and communications that may contain information that could be helpful or hurtful in the event of a discrimination charge. Businesses need to ensure that all required records and statistics are collected. In addition, businesses also should consider strengthening record creation and retention efforts to help preserve other evidence that could be invaluable to defending charges and change the way that decisions are made and documented to position their organizations to more effectively demonstrate the defensibility of their employment and other business activities against potential nondiscrimination charges.

As part of this process, businesses also should carefully review their employment records, group health plan, family leave, disability accommodation, and other existing policies and practices to comply with, and manage exposure under the new genetic information nondiscrimination and privacy rules enacted as part of the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) signed into law by President Bush on May 21, 2008. Effective November 21, 2009, Title VII of GINA amends the Civil Rights Act to prohibit employment discrimination based on genetic information and restricts the ability of employers and their health plans to require, collect or retain certain genetic information. Under GINA, employers, employment agencies, labor organizations and joint labor-management committees face significant liability for violating the sweeping nondiscrimination and confidentiality requirements of GINA concerning their use, maintenance and disclosure of genetic information. Employees can sue for damages and other relief like currently available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination laws. For instance, GINA’s employment related provisions include rules that will:

Prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating based on genetic information in hiring, termination or referral decisions or in other decisions regarding compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment;
Prohibit employers and employment agencies from limiting, segregating or classifying employees so as to deny employment opportunities to an employee based on genetic information;
Bar labor organizations from excluding, expelling or otherwise discriminating against individuals based on genetic information;
Prohibit employers, employment agencies and labor organizations from requesting, requiring or purchasing genetic information of an employee or an employee’s family member except as allowed by GINA to satisfy certification requirements of family and medical leave laws, to monitor the biological effects of toxic substances in the workplace or other conditions specifically allowed by GINA;
Prohibit employers, labor organizations and joint labor-management committees from discriminating in any decisions related to admission or employment in training or retraining programs, including apprenticeships based on genetic information;
Mandate that in the narrow situations where limited cases where genetic information is obtained by a covered entity, it maintain the information on separate forms in separate medical files, treat the information as a confidential medical record, and not disclosure the genetic information except in those situations specifically allowed by GINA;
Prohibit any person from retaliating against an individual for opposing an act or practice made unlawful by GINA; and
Regulate the collection, use, access and disclosure of genetic information by employer sponsored and certain other health plans.

These employment provisions of GINA are in addition to amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act that are effective for group health plan for plan years beginning after May 20, 2009.

If you have any questions or need help reviewing and updating your organization’s employment and/or employee practices in response to the ADAAA, GINA or other applicable laws, or if we may be of assistance with regard to any other workforce management, employee benefits or compensation matters, please do not hesitate to contact the author of this update, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.

About The Author

Management attorney and consultant Cynthia Marcotte Stamer helps businesses, governments and associations solve problems, develop and implement strategies to manage people, processes, and regulatory exposures to achieve their business and operational objectives and manage legal, operational and other risks. Board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, with more than 20 years human resource and employee benefits experience, Ms. Stamer helps businesses manage their people-related risks and the performance of their internal and external workforce though appropriate human resources, employee benefit, worker’s compensation, insurance, outsourcing and risk management strategies domestically and internationally. Recognized in the International Who’s Who of Professionals and bearing the Martindale Hubble AV-Rating, Ms. Stamer also is a highly regarded author and speaker, who regularly conducts management and other training on a wide range of labor and employment, employee benefit, human resources, internal controls and other related risk management matters. Her writings frequently are published by the American Bar Association (ABA), Aspen Publishers, Bureau of National Affairs, the American Health Lawyers Association, SHRM, World At Work, Government Institutes, Inc., Atlantic Information Services, Employee Benefit News, and many others. For a listing of some of these publications and programs, see here. Her insights on human resources risk management matters also have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, various publications of The Bureau of National Affairs and Aspen Publishing, the Dallas Morning News, Spencer Publications, Health Leaders, Business Insurance, the Dallas and Houston Business Journals and a host of other publications. Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit and Other Compensation Committee, a council member of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, and the Legislative Chair of the Dallas Human Resources Management Association Government Affairs Committee, she also serves in leadership positions in many human resources, corporate compliance, and other professional and civic organizations. For more details about Ms. Stamer’s experience and other credentials, contact Ms. Stamer, information about workshops and other training, selected publications and other human resources related information, see here or contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at 469.767.8872 or via e-mailto cstamer@solutionslawyer.net

About Solutions Law Press

Solutions Law Press™ provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, data security and privacy, insurance, health care and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested reviewing some of our other Solutions Law Press resources at www.solutionslawpress.com including:

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

HHS Releases Final Rule on Health Insurance Market, Rate Review, Pre-Existing Conditions & Other ACA Market Reform Rules

February 25, 2013

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on February 22, 2013 released its Final Rule implementing many of the key market reform provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the “Affordable Care Act”) applicable to non-grandfathered health plans and health insurance issuers.

The 145 page regulations and associated guidance package scheduled for official publication in the Federal Register on February 27, 2013 clarifies and implements the Affordable Care Act’s provisions relating to Guaranteed Availability and Renewability; Health Insurance Premiums; Single Risk Pool; Catastrophic Plans, Utilization Data Collection and Reporting under the Federal Rate Review Program and certain other matters.

Among other thing, the Final Regulations:

Clarify the approach HHS will use to enforce the applicable requirements of the Affordable Care Act with respect to health insurance issuers and group health plans that are nonfederal governmental plans
Amend the standards for health insurance issuers and states on reporting, utilization, and collection of data under the federal rate review program
Revise the timeline for states to propose state-specific thresholds for review and approval by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Allow health insurance issuers to vary the premium rate for health insurance coverage in the individual and small group markets only based on family size, geography, and age and tobacco use within limits
Direct health insurance issuers to offer coverage to and accept every employer or individual who applies for coverage in the group and individual market, subject to certain exceptions including how these requirements inter-relate with the Affordable Care Act’s restrictions on pre-existing condition limitations and exclusions
Direct health insurance issuers to renew or continue in force coverage in the group and individual market, subject to certain exceptions
Codify the requirement that issuers maintain a single risk pool for the individual market and a single risk pool for the small group market (unless a state decides to merge the markets into a single risk pool)
Outline standards for enrollment in catastrophic plans for young adults and people who cannot otherwise afford health insurance
Amend the standards under the rate review program in 45 CFR part 154 by among other things, changing the timeline for states to propose state-specific thresholds for review and approval by CMS, requiring health insurance issuers to submit data relating to proposed rate increases in a standardized format specified by the Secretary of HHS and modifying criteria and factors for states to have an effective rate review program

Along with responding to these regulations, health insurers, group health plans and their insurers and others need to stay tuned. These regulations are just one of a deluge of regulations and other interpretations that HHS and other agencies are rolling out in the rush to meet the impending deadlines for the implementaton of the Affordable Care Act. For instance, along with this guidance, HHS along with the Internal Revenue Service and Employee Benefit Security Administration also last week issued FAQ XII, which discusses the co-pay, deductible and certain other aspects of the cost sharing limits of the Affordable Care Act. In previous weeks, the agencies also have issued or proposed regulations about waiting period, employer shared responsibility, essential health benefits, and various other elements of the rules. Additional guidance is impending.

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

If you need help with other health and health plan related regulatory policy or enforcement developments, or to review or respond to these or other human resources, employee benefit, or other compliance, risk management, enforcement or management concerns, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer may be able to help.

Nationally recognized as a knowledgable and innovative health benefit thought leader by business and government leaders for her extensive work, publications and leadership on health benefit and insurance and other related employee benefits, insurance, human resources and health care matters, Ms. Stamer has advised and defended employer and other health plan sponsors, administrators and fiduciaries, insurers, and others about benefit design, compliance, administration and defense for more than 25 years. Her work includes highly pragmatic, leading edge work helping clients to design, deploy, administer and defend catastrophic, mini-med, expatriate and medical tourism, occupational injury and 24-hour coverage, HRA, HSA HFSA and other defined contribution, Medicare Advantage, and other health plans, policies and practices to comply with the Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, ERISA, COBRA, Mental Health Parity, Internal Revenue Code, labor and employment, privacy, managed care and insurance and other federal and state laws and regulations.

In addition to her extensive legal resume, Ms. Stamer also is a highly regarded industry thought leader and author with extensive involvement in the leadership of a broad range of professional and civic organizations. For instance, Ms. Stamer is the founder and executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Health Care Policy and its PROJECT COPE; The Coalition on Patient Empowerment; a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas; Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group; the Immediate Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Committee and the current ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Committee Welfare Benefits Committee Co-Chair; a Council Member of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits; Vice Chair of the ABA Tort & Insurance Practice Section Employee Benefits Committee; Immediate Past Gulf States Area TEGE Council Exempt Organization Coordinator; a current or former Editorial Advisory Board Member of Insurance Thought Leadership, HR.com, Employee Benefit News, the BNA Employee Benefits CD-Rolm and various other BNA HR and Employee Benefits publications; a former national board member and Dallas Chapter President of WEB, Network of Benefits Professionals; a former Southwest Benefits Association Board Member; the past Dallas HR Government Relations Committee Chair; a former SHRM Region IV Board Member and National Consultants Forum Board Member,; past Dallas Bar Association Employee Benefits & Compensation Committee Chair, and a former Texas Association of Business State Board and Regional and Dallas Chapter Chair.

Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and expert panels of HR.com, Employee Benefit News, InsuranceThoughtLeadership.com, and Solutions Law Press, Inc., management attorney and consultant Ms. Stamer has 25 years of experience helping employers; employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; and others design, administer and defend innovative workforce, compensation, employee benefit and management policies and practices. Ms. Stamer often has worked, extensively on these and other workforce and performance related matters. In addition to her continuous day-to-day involvement helping businesses to manage employment and employee benefit plan concerns, she also has extensive public policy and regulatory experience with these and other matters domestically and internationally. A former member of the Executive Committee of the Texas Association of Business and past Government Affairs Committee Legislative Chair for the Dallas Human Resources Management Association, Ms. Stamer served as a primary advisor to the Government of Bolivia on its pension privatization law, and has been intimately involved in federal, state, and international workforce, health care, pension and social security, tax, education, immigration, education and other legislative and regulatory reform in the US and abroad. She also is recognized for her publications, industry leadership, workshops and presentations on these and other human resources concerns and regularly speaks and conducts training on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, and many other national and local publications. For more information about Ms. Stamer and her experience or to get access to other publications by Ms. Stamer see here or contact Ms. Stamer directly.

For help with these or other compliance concerns, to ask about compliance audit or training, or for legal representation on these or other matters please contact Ms. Stamer at (469) 767-8872 or via e-mail here.

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

FTC, HIPAA Rules Require Health Plans & Employers Strengthen Data Security on Mobile Devices and Applications

February 23, 2013

Thinking about or using mobile devices and applications in your heath care, health plan, workforce or related operations or struggling to meet the demands of employees, plan members or others to allow use of these tools? Be sure that you’ve taken appropriate steps to design, implement and manage legal responsibilities and risks associated with the development and use of these tools.

While the popularity, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of mobile devices and applications provides a strong incentive for health and other employee benefit plans, employers, their business associates, workforce members and customers to use mobile devices and applications, the use of these technologies and applications to collect, access, or use personal health care, financial, or other sensitive information presents special challenges and risks. Unfortunately, as the use of these tools proliferates, federal officials are increasingly concerned that the data security protections afforded by many of the devices and applications in use on these highly popular smart phone, tablet and other mobile devices and applications is highly lacking. See FTC Settlement With Mobile Device & App Developer Shows Developers & Businesses Need To Manage Mobile App & Data Security.

As federal regulators and law enforcement responds to growing concerns about cyber security and other risks, heath care, health plan and other businesses, their employees, customers, and other business partners jumping on the mobile device and application bandwagon, health, application bandwagon, and the device and application developers developing and offering these tools must take appropriate steps to manage the personal health, financial, and other sensitive information and data that these tools use, create, access or disclose.

Of course, most health plan sponsors, fiduciaries, administrators and service providers already recognize the need to use care when dealing with health plan data. The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally requires that health care providers, health plans, health care clearinghouses and their businesses associates safeguard personal health care information or “PHI” and restrict its use, access and disclosure in accordance with the extensive and highly detailed requirements of the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Regulations of the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

OCR’s collection of several multi-million dollar settlements as well as its statements in its recent restated HIPAA regulations and other OCR guidance make clear that OCR views HIPAA as imposing significant responsibilities upon covered entities and their business associates to safeguard and restrict access to PHI on mobile devices and applications. OCR’s Long-Anticipated Omnibus HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification & Enforcement Rule Tightens Privacy Requirements, Require Action; Breaches resulting from the loss or theft of unencrypted ePHI on mobile or other computer devices or systems has been a common basis of investigation and sanctions since that time, particularly since the Breach Notification rules took effect. OCR Pops Idaho Hospice In 1st HIPAA Breach Settlement Affecting < 500 Patients; Providence To Pay $100000 & Implement Other Safeguards; OCR Hits Alaska Medicaid For $1.7M+ For HIPAA Security Breach; OCR Audit Program Kickoff Further Heats HIPAA Privacy Risks; $1.5 Million HIPAA Settlement Reached To Resolve 1st OCR Enforcement Action Prompted By HITECH Act Breach Report; HIPAA Heats Up: HITECH Act Changes Take Effect & OCR Begins Posting Names, Other Details Of Unsecured PHI Breach Reports On Website. These actions and statements of OCR provide a clear warning to HIPAA-covered entities and their business associates to expect significant consequences for failing to properly encrypt and safeguard ePHI used, accessed or disclosed on mobile devices and applications.

Of course, HIPAA isn’t the only law and health plans should not be the only area of concern when employers or their health or other employee benefit plan fiduciaries and service providers are considering mobile device and application use. In addition to HIPAA’s health plan requirements concerning PHI, mobile devices and applications used in connection with employment, benefit plan, and related operations also can trigger a host of privacy, data security and other rules requiring data security and other safeguards. Federal laws like the Internal Revenue Code, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Graham-Leech-Biliey, the Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) or other Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rules, state data security, data breach, identity theft or other privacy rules or both are just a few of the many and constantly expanding regulatory requirements that can apply. Depending on the nature of the data and the circumstances of the unanticipated use or disclosure, invasion of privacy or other common or statutory laws also may come into play.

With the use of these applications by consumers and business proliferates, Congress, OCR, the FTC, state regulators and others are upping the responsibilities and the liability of businesses that fail to appropriately consider and implement security in their mobile devices and applications. Following on OCR’s restatement of its HIPAA regulations, the Obama Administration’s announcement of new cyber security initiatives, and a plethora of other federal and state regulatory and enforcement actions against businesses for data security missteps, the FTC recently launched a campaign to ensure that companies secure the software and devices mobile device and application providers provide consumers.

Earlier this month, the FTC introduced Mobile App Developers: Start with Security, a new business guide that encourages app developers to aim for reasonable data security.

On June 4, 2013, the FTC also plans to host a public forum on malware and other mobile security threats in order to examine the security of existing and developing mobile technologies and the roles that various members of the mobile ecosystem can play in protecting consumers.

Along side this educational outreach, the FTC also is moving to punish businesses that fail to act responsibly to protect sensitive data. This trend is illustrated by the FTC’s announcement this week of its first settlement with a mobile device manufacturer.

FTC Charges Against HTC America

This week, the FTC announced that mobile device giant HTC American, Inc. will to settle FTC charges that the company failed to take reasonable steps to secure the software it developed for its smart phones and tablet computers and introduced security flaws that placed sensitive information about millions of consumers at risk.

A leading mobile device manufacturer in the United States, HTC America develops and manufactures mobile devices based on the Android, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. HTC America has customized the software on these devices in order to differentiate itself from competitors and to comply with the requirements of mobile network operators.

In its first-ever complaint against a mobile device or application developer, the FTC charged HTC America failed to incorporate and administer appropriate safeguards for personal financial and other sensitive data accessed and used in these applications when designing or customizing the software on its mobile devices. Among other things, the complaint alleged that HTC America failed to provide its engineering staff with adequate security training, failed to review or test the software on its mobile devices for potential security vulnerabilities, failed to follow well-known and commonly accepted secure coding practices, and failed to establish a process for receiving and addressing vulnerability reports from third parties.

To illustrate the consequences of these alleged failures, the FTC’s complaint details several vulnerabilities found on HTC America’s devices, including the insecure implementation of two logging applications – Carrier IQ and HTC Loggers – as well as programming flaws that would allow third-party applications to bypass Android’s permission-based security model.

Due to these vulnerabilities, the FTC charged, millions of HTC devices compromised sensitive device functionality, potentially permitting malicious applications to send text messages, record audio, and even install additional malware onto a consumer’s device, all without the user’s knowledge or consent. The FTC alleged that malware placed on consumers’ devices without their permission could be used to record and transmit information entered into or stored on the device, including, for example, financial account numbers and related access codes or medical information such as text messages received from healthcare providers and calendar entries about doctor’s appointments. In addition, malicious applications could exploit the vulnerabilities on HTC devices to gain unauthorized access to a variety of other sensitive information, such as the user’s geolocation information and the contents of the user’s text messages.

Moreover, the FTC complaint alleged that the user manuals for HTC Android-based devices contained deceptive representations, and that the user interface for the company’s Tell HTC application was also deceptive. In both cases, the security vulnerabilities in HTC Android-based devices undermined consent mechanisms that would have otherwise prevented unauthorized access or transmission of sensitive information.

HTC America Settlement

The settlement not only requires the establishment of a comprehensive security program, but also prohibits HTC America from making any false or misleading statements about the security and privacy of consumers’ data on HTC devices. Under the settlement agreement, HTC American must:

Fix vulnerabilities found in millions of HTC devices;
Establish a comprehensive security program designed to address security risks during the development of HTC devices; and
Undergo independent security assessments every other year for the next 20 years.

HTC America and its network operator partners are also in the process of deploying the security patches required by the settlement to consumers’ devices. Many consumers have already received the required security updates. The FTC is encouraging consumers using HTC America applications to apply the updates as soon as possible.

The FTC Commission vote to accept the consent agreement package containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 3-0-2, with Chairman Jon Leibowitz not participating and Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen recused. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly.

In accordance with FTC procedures, the settlement agreement will be subject to public comment through March 22, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit comments electronically or in paper form using instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.

Act To Manage Mobile Application Device & Security

Given the expanding awareness, expectations and enforcement of OCR, FTC and others, health care, health plan and other industry participants deciding whether and when to use, or allow others to use mobile devices or applications to access data or carry out other activities and the mobile device or other technology developers and providers offering products or services to these organizations must get serious about security.

These and other related activities send a clear message that health care, health insurance mobile device and application users and developers must incorporate and administer appropriate processes and safeguards to protect PHI, personal financial and other sensitive data. In response to these developments, industry mobile device and application developers and the health care, health insurance and other businesses must consider carefully before deploying or allowing others to deploy or use these tools in relation to data within their operations or systems. Before and when using or permitting customers, business partners, employees or others to use tools, these organizations must ensure the adequacy of the design and security safeguards for their devices, software and applications, as well as their disclaimers and associated consumer disclosures and consents. Because of the special legal and operational expectations for these organizations, health care, health insurance and other industry provides must resist pressure to allow the use of these tools unless and until they can verify that these legal and operational requisites are fulfilled.

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

Nationally recognized for her extensive work, publications and leadership on HIPAA and other privacy and data security concerns, Ms. Stamer has extensive experience representing, advising and assisting health care providers, health plans, their business associates and other health industry clients to establish and administer medical and other privacy and data security, employment, employee benefits, and to handle other compliance and risk management policies and practices; to investigate and respond to OCR and other enforcement and other compliance, public policy, regulatory, staffing, and other operations and risk management concerns. She regularly designs and presents HIPAA and other risk management, compliance and other training for health plans, employers, health care providers, professional associations and others.

A Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, State Bar of Texas and American Bar Association, Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, the Former Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Compensation Group and current Co-Chair of its Welfare Benefit Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Committee, an ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Council Representative, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section and the former Board Compliance Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, Ms. Stamer serves as the scribe for the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits agency meeting with OCR. Ms. Stamer also regularly works with OCR and other agencies, publishes and speaks extensively on medical and other privacy and data security, health and managed care industry regulatory, staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, public policy, reimbursement and other operations and risk management concerns. Her publications and insights on HIPAA and other data privacy and security concerns appear in the Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications. For instance, Ms. Stamer for the third year will serve in 2013 as the appointed scribe for the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Agency meeting with OCR. Her insights on HIPAA risk management and compliance often appear in medical privacy related publications of a broad range of health care, health plan and other industry publications Among others, she has conducted privacy training for the Association of State & Territorial Health Plans (ASTHO), the Los Angeles Health Department, SHRM, HIMMS, the American Bar Association, the Health Care Compliance Association, a multitude of health plan, insurance and financial services, education, employer employee benefit and other clients, trade and professional associations and others. You can get more information about her HIPAA and other experience here.

In addition to this extensive HIPAA specific experience, Ms. Stamer also is recognized for her experience and skill aiding clients with a diverse range of other employment, employee benefits, health and safety, public policy, and other compliance and risk management concerns.

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

3/13 JCEB Teleconference Explores Foreign Transferees: Outbound, Inbound, Equity And Treaty Issues

February 19, 2013

Cynthia Marcotte Stamer will share her insights on health and welfare benefit challenges for multinational employers as one of the featured panelists on the “Foreign Transferees: Outbound, Inbound, Equity And Treaty Issues” Teleconference hosted by the American Bar Association Joint Committee on Employee Benefits on March 13, 2013 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. Central Time.

Intended to help broad-based U.S. and European community benefits attorneys and others seeking to understand common and unique issues associated with employee transferees, granting of equity compensation and associated treaty issues, including:
Basic issues associated with transfers including granting of past service credits, vesting and distribution issues
Case studies involving employee transfers between the U.S. and the UK.
Use of international deferred compensation programs.
Unique health and welfare issues associated with international transfers.
Interesting/Global equity issues to avoid.

Moderated by Elizabeth Drigotas, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Washington, DC, the program will feature a diverse and highly experienced group of distinguished government and private speakers including:

M. Grace Fleeman, Senior Technical Reviewer, Branch 1, (Associate Chief Counsel International)), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC (invited)
Andrew C. Liazos, McDermott Will & Emery, Boston, MA
Matthew Preston, Clifford Chance, London, UK
Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, PC, Addison, TX.

To register or for additional information, see here.

About Ms. Stamer

Sought out nationally and internationally as an industry thought leader and problem solver, attorney, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer has more than 25 years experience helping domestic and foreign private and public businesses, employer and union plan sponsors, health and other employee benefit plans, associations, their fiduciaries, administrators, and vendors, group health, Medicare and Medicaid Advantage, and other insurers, governmental and community leaders and others develop, implement, administer and defend creative, legally compliant and operationally effective health and other employee benefit, employment, insurance, pension and retirement, health care, workers’ compensation and workforce plans, practices, and policies.

Recognized in International Who’s Who, the founder and Executive Director of Project COPE: The Coalition on Patient Empowerment and its affiliate, the Coalition on Responsible Health Policy; a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, American Bar Association, and State Bar of Texas; Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Immediate Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Committee, current ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Committee Welfare Benefits Committee Co-Chair and Substantive Groups Committee Member, and a Council Member of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Vice Chair of the ABA Tort & Insurance Practice Section Employee Benefits Committee, and Immediate Past Gulf States Area TEGE Council Exempt Organization Chair, Ms. Stamer helps these and other clients. to design, document, administer and defend managed care and insurance programs, processes, and products; to monitor and manage evolving regulatory, contractual and fiduciary obligations and risks; to draft, negotiate, interpret and enforce managed care and other contracts, plan documents, insurance policies, administrative services agreements, and other agreements, policies, procedures and controls; to credential, monitor and manage fiduciaries, service providers, consultants and others providing services relating to programs; to conduct and defend litigation, audits, and other enforcement actions; to deal with legislators, regulators, auditors and others; and to fulfill legal obligations, mitigate legal risks and improve operational effectiveness.

As a core focus of her practice, Ms. Stamer continuously counsels, represents and defends self-insured and insured managed care and health, disability and welfare, pension, deferred compensation and other employee benefit plans; employer, association, insurer, and other employee benefit and insurance program sponsors; plan fiduciaries, administrators, brokers, consultants and other service providers; Medicare and Medicaid Advantage and other group, individual, stop-loss and other reinsurance, fiduciary liability and other insurers; health and insurance technology and other outsourcing companies; human resources, insurance and employee benefit consulting organizations; and other insurance, employee benefit and human resources industry clients, domestic and foreign governments and others about a diverse range of employee benefit, insurance, employment, tax, regulatory, risk management, public policy and related matters.

Ms. Stamer’s health benefit experience includes extensive and highly-innovative dealings with insured and self-insured managed care, defined contribution, indemnity and other health benefit, disability, life, occupational injury, Medicare and Medicaid Advantage, and other welfare benefit and insurance plans and policies; and a wide range of other employee benefits, compensation, insurance, equity and other related arrangements. Her work includes leading edge development and use of 24-hour coverage and other occupational injury, ex-pat and other medical tourism products, HRA, HSA, HRA and other defined contribution, hi-deductible, deductible reimbursement, min-med and other limited benefit plans, 24-hour and occupational benefit, fraternal benefit and association, and other medical programs as well as a broad range of claims, appeals, audit, and other administrative processes and tools designed to promote defensibility and mitigate risks.

Along side this domestic work, Ms. Stamer also has extensive international experience. A primary drafter of the Bolivian Social Security privatization law with extensive domestic and international regulatory and public policy experience, Ms. Stamer also has worked extensively domestically and internationally on design, administration, operations, compliance, public policy and regulatory, and other challenges arising in the administration of multinational workforces and populations. Throughout her career, Ms. Stamer has advised both U.S. based businesses and foreign owned or operated businesses about design and administration of employment, employee benefit, worker’s compensation, employment tax, occupational safety, discipline and promotion, collective bargaining, recruiting, compliance, risk management and other personnel practices for multinational workforces. She has worked extensively on the design and administration of pension, severance, health and other benefit and compensation programs for their multinational workforce. She assists businesses with cross-border and domestic employment, consulting, independent contractor, subcontractor, employee leasing and other staffing and vendor agreements; multinational Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, and other compliance programs and practices; design, drafting, interpretation, implementation, and coordination pension, health care, severance, education, insurance, employment, tax, unemployment, disability, and other programs and requirements; represents and advises businesses, associations and government agencies before U.S. and foreign governments in connection with tax, employment, and other compliance matters, trade relationships and missions, public policy advocacy.

A widely published author and highly sought out speaker whose HR & Benefits Update has been recognized as among the “Top 50” HR Blogs To Watch, Ms. Stamer also regularly authors materials and conducts workshops and professional, management and other training on employee benefits, human resources, health care and other compliance and management topics for the ABA, Aspen Publishers, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), SHRM, World At Work, Insurance Thought Leadership, Government Institutes, Inc., Solutions Law Press, Inc., the Society of Professional Benefits Administrators, HealthLeaders, Managed Care Executive, CEO Magazine, Business Insurance and many other industry, professional and business publications. An Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Institute of Human Resources (IHR/HR.com), Employee Benefit News, and other publications, Ms. Stamer also regularly serves on the faculty and planning committees of a multitude of symposium and other educational programs. For more details about Ms. Stamer’s services, experience, presentations, publications, and other credentials or to inquire about arranging counseling, training or presentations or other services by Ms. Stamer, see www.CynthiaStamer.com. Ms. Stamer also is widely recognized for her regulatory and public policy advocacy, publications, and public speaking on privacy and other compliance, risk management concerns. For the past two years, Ms. Stamer has serve as the appointed scribe for the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits annual agency meeting with OCR and has lead numerous programs for the ABA and others on this topic. Her insights on HIPAA risk management and compliance frequently appear in medical privacy related publications of a broad range of health care, health plan and other industry publications Among others, she has conducted privacy training for the Association of State & Territorial Health Plans (ASTHO), the Los Angeles Health Department, the American Bar Association, the Health Care Compliance Association, a multitude of health industry, health plan, insurance and financial services, education, employer employee benefit and other clients, trade and professional associations and others.

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

SLP Readers Get $400 Discount To Learn Key Health Care Reform Coping Strategies At 2/21-22 Employer Health & Human Capital Strategy Congress In Lake Mary, FL

February 5, 2013

Solutions Law Press, Inc. (SLP) readers qualify for up to a $400 discount on their registration to learn key insights from on strategies for charting the path forward to drive employee wellness, strengthen the workforce and impact global business competitiveness in the face of the impending health care reforms of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act from SLP Editor/Author Cynthia Marcotte Stamer and other leading employer health care decision makers at the 8^th Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Strategy Congress that the World Health Congress is hosting on February 21-22, 2013 at The Westin Lake Mary, Orlando North Conference Center in Lake Mary, Florida.

About the Program

Nationally recognized industry thought leader and attorney SLP Editor attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer will help kick off the program when she joins a panel of prominent HR leaders discussing “Assessing Alternatives and Opportunities: Defined Contribution and Exchanges-What are the Long-Term Implications on Your Human Capital Strategy” beginning at 9:30 a.m. on February 21, 2013.

Following this keynote panel, attendees also will learn other key ideas and strategies to help their organizations cope with Health Care Reform as they participate in a host of other insightful and timely presentations by dynamic team of prominent HR and other industry experts and network with other management and human resources leaders .including:

John Rother, National Coalition on Health care
Shawn Leavitt, Carlson Companies
Rebecca Mariet Lynn-Crockford, Suntrust Banks, Inc
Jo-Ann Gastin, Lockton Companies, LLC
Paul Grundy, M.D., Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative
Roger C. Merring, M.D., Perdue Farm Inc.
Sam Nussbaum, Wellpoint, Inc.
Benjamin H. Hoffman, M.D., GE Energy
Bruce Sherman, MD, Employers Health Coalition

For a full agenda and other details on the program, see here.

SLP Reader Registration Discount

SLP is delighted to announce that the World Health Congress is offering SLP readers the opportunity to claim a $400 discount off the otherwise applicable registration fee when registering for the program. To register and claim this discount, enter registration code “GHH925” at the designated location when registering for the program here.

About Ms. Stamer

Sought out nationally and internationally as an industry thought leader and problem solver, SLP Editor and author attorney, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer has spent more than 25 years helping private and public employers, employer and union plan sponsors, health and other employee benefit plans, associations, their fiduciaries, administrators, and vendors, group health, Medicare and Medicaid Advantage, and other insurers, governmental and community leaders and others develop, implement, administer and defend creative, legally compliant and operationally effective health and other employee benefit, employment, insurance, health care and workforce plans, policies, practices, operations and policies.

A primary drafter of the Bolivian Social Security privatization law with extensive domestic and international regulatory and public policy experience, Ms. Stamer also has worked extensively domestically and internationally on public policy and regulatory advocacy on health and other employee benefits, human resources, insurance, tax, compliance and other matters and representing clients in dealings with the US Congress, Departments of Labor, Treasury, Health & Human Services, Federal Trade Commission, HUD and Justice, as well as a state legislatures attorneys general, insurance, labor, worker’s compensation, and other agencies and regulators. Her Patient Empowerment Toolkit™, Play4Life Community Program™, and other patient empowerment, health care quality, and other industry thought leadership, advocacy and solutions have drawn the attention of business, government and community leaders for their insightfulness and practicality.

A widely published author and highly sought out speaker whose HR & Benefits Update has been recognized as among the “Top 50” HR Blogs To Watch, Ms. Stamer also regularly authors materials and conducts workshops and professional, management and other training on employee benefits, human resources, health care and other compliance and management topics for the ABA, Aspen Publishers, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), SHRM, World At Work, Insurance Thought Leadership, Government Institutes, Inc., Solutions Law Press, Inc., the Society of Professional Benefits Administrators, HealthLeaders, Managed Care Executive, CEO Magazine, Business Insurance and many other industry, professional and business publications. An Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Institute of Human Resources (IHR/HR.com), Employee Benefit News, and other publications, Ms. Stamer also regularly serves on the faculty and planning committees of a multitude of symposium and other educational programs. For more details about Ms. Stamer’s services, experience, presentations, publications, and other credentials or to inquire about arranging counseling, training or presentations or other services by Ms. Stamer, see www.CynthiaStamer.com or contact Ms. Stamer directly via email here or (469) 767-8872.

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

Leave a Comment » | Corporate Compliance, Employers, GINA, Health Plans, HIPAA, Human Resources, Insurance, Internal Controls, Internal Investigations, Privacy, Risk Management, Whistleblower | Tagged: Backpay, Employer, Employment, employment law, Fair Labor Standards Act, FSLA, IT, Labor Department, Minimum Wage, Technology, Wage & Hour, wage and hour, Worker Classification | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

Stamer Talks on “What the Wind Blew In: Coping with Health Care Reform: 2013 and Beyond” May 2 At 24th Annual RPTE Spring Symposia In Washington, D.C.

January 28, 2013

Cynthia Marcotte Stamer will a featured panelists discussing “What the Wind Blew In: Coping with Health Care Reform: 2013 and Beyond” on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 24th Annual RPTE Spring Symposia at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. The Symposia scheduled to take place on May 2–3, 2013 will cover a broad range of timely topics on real estate, trusts and estates and other related concerns. To register, review the full agenda or get additional information about the Symposium, see here.

About Ms. Stamer

A noted Texas-based employee benefits and employment lawyer with extensive involvement in the leadership of the ABA and other professional organizations involved in employee benefits, health care and workforce matters, is nationally and internationally known for her innovative leadership and work as an attorney, consultant, policy advocate, speaker and author helping businesses, governments, and communities on health and other insurance and employee benefits, patient education and empowerment, wellness and disease management, and other programs, policies, and processes. For more than 24 years, Ms. Stamer’s legal practice has focused on advising and representing employers, insurers, health care providers, community leaders and governments about health care and employee benefits policy and process improvement, quality, performance management, education, compliance, communications, risk management, reimbursement and finance, and other related matters. In addition to her legal practice, Stamer also extensively consults and provides leadership to a broad range of clients, professional and civic organizations, and others on strategies for improving the health care system and the ability of health care providers, payers, employers, community organizations, government agencies to promote the ability of patients and their families to access cost-effective, quality, affordable health care and other resource needs. She also has worked extensively with a broad range of business and government clients on health care, pension, social security, workforce, insurance and many other related policy matters.

In addition to her service with the ABA, Ms. Stamer also is active in the leadership of a broad range of other professional and civil organizations. For instance, Ms. Stamer presently serves as Executive Director of Project COPE, the Coalition on Patient Empowerment and the Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Policy; Vice President of the North Texas Healthcare Compliance Professionals Association; Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Committee and its representative to the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits and Vice Chair of its Welfare Benefits Committee; Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group and a current member of its Healthcare Coordinating Council; and as the Gulf Coast TEGE Council TE Committee Coordinator. She previously served as a founding Board Member and President of the Alliance for Healthcare Excellence, as a Board Member and Board Compliance Committee Chair for the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas; the Board President of the early retirement intervention agency, The Richardson Development Center for Children; Chair of the Dallas Bar Association Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Committee; a member of the Board of Directors of the Southwest Benefits Association; on numerous seminar faculties and in many other professional and civic leadership and volunteer roles.

Author of the hundreds of publications and workshops these and other employment, employee benefits, health care, insurance, workforce and other management matters, Ms. Stamer’s insights on employee benefits, insurance, health care and workforce matters in Atlantic Information Services, The Bureau of National Affairs, HealthLeaders, Modern Healthcare, Business Insurance, Employee Benefits News, World At Work, Benefits Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, and many other publications. Nationally known for her work on health care reform and related matters, Ms. Stamer also regularly conducts training and speaks on these and other management, compliance and public policy concerns. For additional information about Ms. Stamer, upcoming training, publications or other materials or events, see here or contact Ms. Stamer directly via email here or (469) 767-8872.

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

IRS Will Begin Accepting Returns Claiming Education Credits By Mid-February

January 28, 2013

As preparations continue for the Jan. 30 opening of the 2013 filing season for most taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service has announced that it beginprocessing of tax returns claiming education credits n by the middle of February.

Taxpayers using Form 8863, Education Credits, can begin filing their tax returns after the IRS updates its processing systems. Form 8863 is used to claim two higher education credits — the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit.

The IRS emphasized that the delayed start will have no impact on taxpayers claiming other education-related tax benefits, such as the tuition and fees deduction and the student loan interest deduction. People otherwise able to file and claiming these benefits can start filing Jan. 30, 2013

As it does every year, the IRS reviews and tests its systems in advance of the opening of the tax season to protect taxpayers from processing errors and refund delays. The IRS discovered during testing that programming modifications are needed to accurately process Forms 8863. Filers who are otherwise able to file but use the Form 8863 will be able to file by mid-February. No action needs to be taken by the taxpayer or their tax professional. Typically through the mid-February period, about 3 million tax returns include Form 8863, less than a quarter of those filed during the year.

The IRS remains on track to open the tax season on January 30 for most taxpayers. The January 30 opening includes people claiming the student loan interest deduction on the Form 1040 series or the higher education tuition or fees on Form 8917, Tuition and Fees Deduction. Forms that will be able to be filed later are listed on IRS.gov.

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

Leave a Comment » | Corporate Compliance, Employers, GINA, Health Plans, HIPAA, Human Resources, Insurance, Internal Controls, Internal Investigations, Privacy, Risk Management, Whistleblower | Tagged: Backpay, Employer, Employment, employment law, Fair Labor Standards Act, FSLA, IT, Labor Department, Minimum Wage, Technology, Wage & Hour, wage and hour, Worker Classification | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

IRS Shares Procedures Employers Use To Claim Increased Monthly Transit Benefit Exclusion Allowed By Administrative Taxpayer Relief Act

January 28, 2013

The Administrative Taxpayer Relief Act retroactively increased monthly transit benefit limit that employers can provide to employees on a tax-free basis for 2012 from $125 per month to $240 per month. Notice 2013-8 provides a special correction procedure for employers who paid benefits in excess of $125 per month in 2012 and wish to make corrections on their fourth quarter Form 941.

Notice 2013-8 will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2013-7 on February 11, 2013

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

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Employers ACA Health Reforms Prohibit Using HRAs To Pay Individual Medical Policy Premiums & Impact Other HRA Arrangements

January 27, 2013

Since the enactment of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA), many employers searching for health plan solutions may have been asked to consider replacing or modifying their existing insured or self-insured group health plan with a ”health reimbursement arrangement” (HRA) or other arrangement which would reimburse employees for premiums paid for individual health insurance policies. New guidance released on Thursday, January 24, 2013 indicates that such arrangements are prohibited as part of the ACA health care reforms.

“FAQS About Affordable Care Implementation (Part XI)” (FAQ) available here issued by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Agencies) on January 24, 2013 sends a clear message to employers that trying to escape ACA or other federal group health plan mandates by replacing their traditional insured or group health plans or policies with health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) or other arrangements under which the employer agrees to provide a fixed defined contribution to be used to buy or reimburses employees for buying individual health insurance generally won’t pass legal muster. The FAQ also indicates that employers sponsoring HRAs that only reimburse medical expenses, not individual health insurance premiums also need to review their arrangements to verify that those programs also comply with ACA and other applicable rules.

Concerning the use of HRAs to pay for individual health insurance policy premiums, the FAQ states that PHS Act Section 2711 generally prohibits an employer-sponsored HRA cannot be integrated with individual market coverage or with an employer plan that provides coverage through individual policies. Under ACA, employers that improperly offer arrangements that violate PHS Section 2711 or other group health plans risk exposing themselves to liability for significant unanticipated health benefit claims, as well as other penalties and costs. Therefore, employers that have or are contemplating arrangements that provide or reimburse premiums for individual health insurance coverage are urged to contact qualified legal counsel with documented experience with ACA and other group health plan requirements for advice before establishing or continuing such arrangements.

The FAQ’s guidance about the use of individual insurance policies to arrange coverage for employees is one of several issues addressed in the FAQ and part of a wave of new guidance that has and is emerging as the Obama Administration moves to full implementation of the ACA reforms. Employers, plan fiduciaries, insurers, and others involved in the design or administration of health benefit programs need to monitor carefully this emerging guidance as they move quickly to tailor their programs in response to these evolving rules. For help monitoring or responding to these evolving rules, contact the author of this update, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.

For Help With Compliance, Risk Management, Investigations, Policy Updates Or Other Needs

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

Leave a Comment » | Corporate Compliance, Employers, GINA, Health Plans, HIPAA, Human Resources, Insurance, Internal Controls, Internal Investigations, Privacy, Risk Management, Whistleblower | Tagged: Backpay, Employer, Employment, employment law, Fair Labor Standards Act, FSLA, IT, Labor Department, Minimum Wage, Technology, Wage & Hour, wage and hour, Worker Classification | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer

OSHA Citation Of Michigan VA Reminder To Manage Workplace Safety

Wal-Mart Settlement Shows ADA Risks When Considering Employee Return To Work Accommodation Requests & Inquiries

HHS Releases Final Rule on Health Insurance Market, Rate Review, Pre-Existing Conditions & Other ACA Market Reform Rules

FTC, HIPAA Rules Require Health Plans & Employers Strengthen Data Security on Mobile Devices and Applications

3/13 JCEB Teleconference Explores Foreign Transferees: Outbound, Inbound, Equity And Treaty Issues

SLP Readers Get $400 Discount To Learn Key Health Care Reform Coping Strategies At 2/21-22 Employer Health & Human Capital Strategy Congress In Lake Mary, FL

Stamer Talks on “What the Wind Blew In: Coping with Health Care Reform: 2013 and Beyond” May 2 At 24th Annual RPTE Spring Symposia In Washington, D.C.

IRS Will Begin Accepting Returns Claiming Education Credits By Mid-February

IRS Shares Procedures Employers Use To Claim Increased Monthly Transit Benefit Exclusion Allowed By Administrative Taxpayer Relief Act

Employers ACA Health Reforms Prohibit Using HRAs To Pay Individual Medical Policy Premiums & Impact Other HRA Arrangements

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