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Features
The number of doctors and hospitals making virtual house calls has exploded in recent years, which has lawyers cautioning the medical community about the legal dangers of treating and monitoring patients via the Internet. Attorneys warn that virtual medicine ' which has popped up in hospitals and clinics in more than a dozen states in the last 2 years ' could open the floodgates to malpractice claims, privacy disputes and licensure problems.
Features
Over the past year, hospitals, doctors and health insurers have been meeting to discuss pay-for-performance (P4P), the latest attempt to correct our dysfunctional health-care payment system. The general concept is actually quite simple: Providers of health-care services would be paid more if they achieve certain performance metrics and less if they don't.
Features
As the debate over the legal status of same-sex relationships has percolated over the last several years ' fueled in part by a wave of recent judicial decisions and statutes extending comprehensive rights to lesbian and gay couples in Vermont, Connecticut, The state's highest court ruled on July 6 in <i>Hernandez v. Robles</i>, 2006 NY Slip Op 5239, that the New York State Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex. The court noted that whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature. (In February 2006, in <i>Samuels v. New York State Dept of Health</i>, 2006 N.Y. Slip Op. 01213, 2006 WL 346465 (3d Dept Feb. 16, 2006), the Third Department joined the First Department in holding that a ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the New York Constitution.) It is now up to the New York State Legislature to determine the future of same-sex marriages and correct the inequality that exists for these couples and their families. This two-part article discusses the many reasons supporting such action.
Two recent cases suggest an important difference between the current tax treatment of alimony payments and the pre-1984 treatment of alimony payments. 'Alimony,' of course, is a defined term, and the definition can be structured to include whatever transfers seem appropriate from a tax policy perspective as distinct from the meaning of the term for state law purposes.
Features
Most clients are shell-shocked following the conclusion of their divorces, but that is one of the most critical times for them to get their lives back on track. Failing to overhaul their financial, estate, insurance and related planning in light of post-divorce realities can have tragic consequences. Too often, once the divorce itself is finalized, practitioners assume their responsibilities are over. While that may be the case, a little guidance to the client as to how to proceed with the rebuilding process can have a tremendous and lasting impact.
According to a 2005 report of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC, the agency that administers the federal insurance program for DB plans), more than 2700 DB plans ' nearly 10% of all PBGC-insured plans ' were frozen as of 2003, and more than 165,000 DB plans were terminated between 1975 and 2004. This same period has seen a rise in popularity of defined contribution (DC) and other individual account plans (IAPs), such as 401(k) plans. This article explores the thinking that has led many employers to freeze and/or terminate their DB plans as a means of managing the risk/reward attributes of their tax-qualified deferred compensation programs, as well as some special considerations for law firm financial managers.
With the business community eagerly anticipating more reports recommending SOX ' 404 relief for smaller companies, executive compensation issues seem far removed, except for the occasional (or not so occasional) headline. Don't be lulled, however, into a false sense of security. Executive compensation is about to take center stage as THE latest 'corporate governance' topic.
Through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Congress called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations that would help ensure the privacy and security of health information. The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (the Privacy Rule) and the Security Standards (the Security Rule) promulgated pursuant to HIPAA apply to 'covered entities' and limit the ability of such entities to use or disclose protected health information (PHI). The Privacy Rule defines a 'covered entity' as a health plan, health care clearinghouse, or health care provider who transmits health information in electronic form in connection with certain specified transactions. While the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule do not directly apply to employers, the requirements of these rules do apply to ERISA-covered 'group health plans' that are sponsored by many employers.