New York’s highest judicial panel has sent back to a trial court the case of a Syracuse motorist who fatally struck a pedestrian, ruling that a judge improperly instructed jurors to consider whether the driver’s claim that he was blinded by the setting sun constituted an emergency—a decision that could have serious implications for the motorist and his car insurance company.

The driver in the case, Derek Klink, had just left work at about 4:05 p.m. on Feb. 29, 2

Full Article…

• 0 Comments

A St. Louis-based plan administrator disclosed that a delivery service has lost a box of microfilm containing plan enrollment information from the 1960s and 1970s.

On Aug. 23, Concordia Plan Services (CPS), formerly known as the plan administrator Worker Benefit Plans, was notified of the loss. On Feb. 3, CPS had hand-delivered the records to a vendor hired to convert the microfilm to an electronic format.

The loss occurred when the records were being transferred between the company assisting the vendor with the conversion process and the vendor. In May 2011, the delivery service had notified the vendor that the microfilm was lost, according to CPS.

The records contained some participants personal information, including names, addresses from the 1960s and 1970s, and dates of birth. I

Full Article…

• 0 Comments

Thank you, Chairman Kohl, Ranking Member Corker, and members of the Committee for the opportunity to discuss Medicare reforms that can responsibly slow the growth of program spending and help set this country on a sustainable fiscal path.

I am Joseph Antos, the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization based in Washington, D.C. I am also a member of the panel of health advisers for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and I was formerly the Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at CBO. My

Full Article…

• 0 Comments

How negatively does a DUI affect insurance rates? Today, a DUI conviction is a very serious matter and can cost a driver and his or her family dearly in a variety of ways.

Having a DUI conviction makes finding insurance difficult but not impossible.

How long a DUI conviction stays on a driving record depends entirely upon the states laws. It can be anywhere from a few years or the rest ones lifetime. Generally an insurance premium will increase upon renewal after the insurance company checks a drivers motor vehicle record. Thereafter, the DUI will continue to affect insurance rates for anywhere from three to seven years or even longer if state insurance laws permit it.

Full Article…

• 0 Comments

The Internal Revenue Service said it will allow businesses that improperly labeled their employees as independent contractors a chance to reclassify those workers.

The Wall Street Journal said the IRS will allow employers to pay for past payroll taxes, but no fines.

But federal officials said they look more closely at company classification efforts to root out those employees listed as independent contractors, according to the report.

Determining the appropriate classification involves a variety of factors, including how much control the employer exercises in the workers efforts.

Employers sometimes attempt to misclassify employees as independent contractors to save on payroll taxes.

Full Article…

• 0 Comments