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
This Land Is My Land; This Land Is Your Land; Who Gets the Land?
Recently, the Missouri Court of Appeals had to decide the rightful owner of a 292-square-foot piece of land, aptly described as a “triangular sliver of property.” This involves a legal claim of adverse possession. In an otherwise tranquil subdivision, an existing...
Employee Handbook Collides With Federal Law on Communications
The National Labor Relations Board issued a decision that two provisions in an employee handbook and two corporate policies were unlawful because employees would reasonably construe them as prohibiting Section 7 activity. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act...
Appealing Real Property Taxes
2013 is a "Reassessment Year" for real property taxes in Missouri. Although a property owner's right to appeal an assessment is available in any year, such right is most often exercised only in "reassessment years." Unless special circumstances exist, the assessment...
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
The Missouri Court of Appeals recently decided a case as to whether a reasonable person in an employee’s situation would find his or her working conditions intolerable. The decision focuses on a lesser-known employment action known as “constructive discharge.” Under...
