Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or colloquially as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in March of 2010 with the goal of increasing the quality and affordability of health insurance for millions of Americans.
While the Act’s employer shared responsibility payments will not apply until 2015, and in some cases, not until 2016, there are provisions and safe harbors to consider and decisions that can be made now that may help businesses, employees and a business’s bottom line. Further, there are many unintended consequences arising out of the ACA that business owners, both large and small, need to consider when administering health care arrangements.
We are carefully following the developments associated with the roll-out of ACA and are providing counsel to business owners and other professionals, helping them to address compliance issues, evaluate exposure to penalties and other tax issues as well as planning strategically for the future.
Affordable Care Act Articles
“Me Too” Evidence Addressed by Missouri Supreme Court for Discrimination Lawsuits
The Missouri Supreme Court has just issued a major ruling on whether "me too" evidence is admissible in an employment discrimination lawsuit brought pursuant to the Missouri Human Rights Act. The case involves an age discrimination claim brought by a former employee...
Adverse Possession: When Your Property Isn’t Yours Anymore
One of our attorneys' neighbors, who purchased land from the lawyer to build a home, recently put up a fence in the backyard between the properties. (Just an aside: the fence was not built because the attorney's family makes a bad neighbor, but was put up because the...
Easements: Rights and Obligations of the Respective Parties
Many of us have observed a utility, such as the electric company, trimming trees away from the company's lines on our property and may have thought, what gives the utility company the right to come onto my private property? The simple answer is what is called an...
Property Owner Can Keep Purple Swing Set Despite POA’s Disallowance
Lewis and Marla Stout live in the Raintree Lake community in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Two years ago, the Stouts erected a swing set and, at the request of their children, painted it purple. Pursuant to the Raintree Lake covenants and restrictions, the Stouts were...
