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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Medicare Advantage Plans Improve Diabetic Care


Medicare Advantage Chronic Special Needs Plans are effective in managing care for some of Medicare’s most vulnerable beneficiaries with diabetes, according to a study published in the January issue of Health Affairs.

The study compared 36,000 Care Improvement Plus members with diabetes to a similar population enrolled in traditional Medicare. Members of special needs plans members had more primary care. They had reduced rates of hospitalization and hospital readmissions. The study indicates that offering additional services to people with chronic diseases could result in lower Medicare spending and may improve the quality of life for beneficiaries with diabetes.

The plans were able to reduce hospital readmission rates, by as much as 40%, by offering services such as in-home preventive health visits. these include services such as foot exams, social needs assessments, and medication reviews. The plans were able to reduce hospitalizations and readmissions for non-Caucasian members at rates greater than their Caucasian counterparts, suggesting that the plan’s model is effective in addressing ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare.

What Will Healthcare Look Like in 2025?

By 2025, patient-doctor relationships and healthcare delivery will look radically different, according to a forecast by the Institute for Alternative Futures. Working with more than 50 national healthcare leaders, the Institute created four scenarios to show what primary care might look like in 2025. The scenarios take into consideration the nation’s economic challenges, political polarization, and opportunities afforded by technological advances and new delivery systems. Clem Bezold, Institute for Alternative Futures chair and senior futurist said, “In all four scenarios, we forecast that electronic records will become ubiquitous. Community health centers will give high-quality care to low-income people, and a small persistent group of affluent will receive great fee-for-service concierge healthcare. You will see more virtual care, personal health avatars and doctors operating remotely.”

Wellness Programs Get Results

Forty-one percent of workers agree that having a wellness program encourages them to work harder and perform better at work, according to the latest Principal Financial Well-Being Index. The index surveys American workers at growing businesses with 10 to 1,000 workers and is conducted by Harris Interactive. Fifty-two percent of workers (up from 37% last year) say they have more energy to be more productive at work because they participated in a wellness program. Another 35% (up from 28% a year ago) and say they missed fewer days of work. Forty-five percent of workers chose better overall physical health as the top benefit to participating in a wellness program. Other top mentions included receiving a meaningful incentive from their employer for participation (30%) and reduced personal healthcare costs, greater chance of living a longer, healthier life and reduced stress (29% each). Fifty-five percent of workers rated wellness activities offered by an employer as very successful or somewhat successful in improving health and reducing health risks. The top four wellness benefits workers would most like to see their employer offer are fitness center discounts (25%), on-site preventive screenings (22%), access to wellness experts such as nutritionists (21%), and onsite fitness facilities (19%). However, the top four wellness benefits offered by employers are online wellness information (19%), educational tools or resources (18%), fitness center discounts (17%), and printed wellness information (17%). Interestingly, access to wellness experts was only available to 11% of those surveyed.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Berkley Wellness Newsletter


This is one of the best places to stay informed on health topics and receive great emails with current state of the art information.

* Special Offer From Berkeley Wellness Alerts *


Dear Health-Conscious Friend,

Not long ago you expressed an interest in receiving information from Berkeley Wellness Alerts. We thought you might be interested in the special report on high blood pressure described below.

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For all of us, the risk of high blood pressure-hypertension-increases as we get older.
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Health Insurnace


Health insurance is a necessity for a family. However, with the price of health insurance rising, more families are looking for affordable options. With a little bit of time and effort, affordable health insurance can be found for the right price.

Health insurance through an employer utilizes a group plan, so the premiums are less expensive. Some employers will also pay a percentage of the premium for each employee. Dependents such as a spouse or children can be enrolled in your employer's health plan in order for the whole family to have insurance coverage.

If you are self-employed or if your job does not offer health insurance benefits, you can obtain private health insurance for yourself and your family. Private insurance tends to be more expensive than insurance through an employer, but there are ways to make it more affordable. When shopping for private health insurance, seek the assistance of an experienced health insurance broker. An insurance broker does not work for just one insurance company; they can sell policies from many different companies, and this allows them to compare different policies to find the best rates. A way to save money is to choose an HMO plan; these offer good coverage and tend to be less expensive than a PPO insurance plan. You will also pay less in premiums if you choose to have a higher deductible. The higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium.

If money is tight, you may want to purchase a "catastrophe" health insurance plan for yourself and your family. These plans are very affordable, but the deductible can be between $5,000 and $10,000. With a catastrophe health insurance plan, you are responsible for the first $5,000 or $10,000 of medical bills and the insurance company pays the rest. This plan is very useful in case of serious illness or injury that requires an expensive stay in the hospital. If there is no way you can afford to pay for any type of health insurance coverage right now, look into your state's programs. Most states will offer health coverage for children for very little or no cost.

Health insurance can be very expensive, but not having health insurance can be even costlier. There are ways to save money on health insurance; look at all of your options and find the plan that is the best fit for you and your family.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Solution to the Hospital Super Bugs may be at hand.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - Researchers at Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University reported that they have developed a new method of restoring antibiotic sensitivity to resistant bacteria. They published their findings in the January issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

They report that their process could eventually be used to fight hospital superbugs. In the United States, an estimated 70% of hospital-acquired infections are due to bacteria that are resistant to at least one antibiotic.

Using a process called lysogenization, scientists used bacteriophages to invade the cell wall of resistant bacteria and restore their sensitivity to antibiotics. Bacteriophages are viruses that can infect bacteria. They conducted their initial experiments with the bacteria Escherichia Coli and the antibiotics streptomycin and nalidixic acid. Genes from mutant or antibiotic-resistant E. coli were isolated in laboratory cultures and genetically engineered to reverse the resistance mechanism. The researchers then targeted the resistant genes using bacteriophages, which contianed the engineered genes. This process rendered the resistant E. coli significantly more sensitive to the antibiotics than control phages carrying mock genes.

The scientists noted that they believe that genetically engineered bacteriophages can be developed for any bacterium and used in hospital settings to reverse antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections.

Researchers said they expect genetically altered bacteriophages can be developed for any bacterium; these viruses then can be used in a hospital setting to reverse antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections. Once bacteria are lysogenized, they are less likely to infect humans and perpetuate the cycle of antibiotic-resistance.

The researchers also conducted experiments with Tellurite, which is a substance that is toxic to bacteria. Supplementary treatment with Tellurite would kill bacteria missed by the bacteriophages.

One particularly virulent form of bacterium is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Hopefully, a future study by the Israeli researchers will focus on this organism. S. aureus is an extremely versatile organism that can cause infections ranging from mild to severe in humans and animals. MRSA can cause a large number of serious illnesses that do not respond well to current medical treatment. It has evolved the ability to survive treatment with a number of antibiotics, including penicillin, methicillin, and cephalosporins. MRSA infections commonly occur in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, such as nursing homes.

Researchers around the globe are devoting a considerable to find treatments to combat MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections. For example, last August investigators at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston announced that they had discovered a molecular process by which the body can defend against the effects of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), pointing the way to a promising new approach for treating an intestinal disease that has become more common, more severe and harder to cure in recent years. Each year, several million people in the U.S. are infected with CDI, about double the incidence of a decade ago, mainly due to the emergence of a new, highly virulent strain of the bacteria that causes CDI. As a result of the study findings, the researchers are preparing to launch clinical trials using their discovery as a new CDI therapeutic approach.

CDI is a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions, such as colitis (inflammation of the colon). In the most severe cases, CDI can be fatal. It is most commonly acquired in hospitals by patients, particularly the elderly, who are being treated with antibiotics for another infection. Currently, one of two potent antibiotics is used to treat the infection; however, up to 20% of patients experience a relapse and a return of symptoms within a few weeks. C. difficile causes diarrhea and colitis by releasing two potent toxins into the gut lumen that bind to intestinal epithelial cells, initiating an inflammatory response. These toxins are released only when the bacteria are multiplying. When antibiotics are used to treat another infection, it changes the bacterial landscape in the intestines and, in the process, may kill bacteria that under normal conditions would compete with C. difficile for energy. Scientists believe this may be what provides the opportunity for the bacteria to grow and release their toxins.

The researchers found in laboratory studies that upon infection with C. difficile, human cells in the intestine are capable of releasing molecules that will neutralize these toxins, rendering them harmless. In animal studies, the researchers showed that using a drug to induce this process, known as protein s-nitrosylation, inhibited the toxins from destroying intestinal cells. This new approach might also be applied to the treatment of other bacterial infections. Forthcoming clinical trials will test this approach in humans. Caveat: Bacteriophages have yet to be tested on hospital superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

1% of U.S. Residents Accounting for 20% of Total Health Spending

1% of U.S. Residents Accounting for 20% of Total Health Spending
One percent of U.S. residents accounted for more than 20% of overall health care spending in 2009, according to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HealthLeaders Media reports (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 1/12).

Further, just 5% of U.S. residents accounted for 50% of health spending, the report found (Kennedy, USA Today, 1/11).

The findings support previous analyses finding that a relatively small number of sick individuals have a large effect on national health care spending, according to National Journal (Sanger-Katz, National Journal, 1/11). However, the study noted that there has been a "decrease in this concentration at the upper tail of the expenditure distribution." For example, in 1996, the top 1% accounted for 28% of total health care spending.

Additional Findings

The report also found that:

■For the top 1% of spenders, average annual health spending was about $90,061 (HealthLeaders Media, 1/12);
■The top 5% of spenders averaged $36,000 annually in health care costs (USA Today, 1/11);
■The bottom 50% of health care spenders accounted for just 2.9% of spending in 2009 and 3.1% in 2008 (HealthLeaders Media, 1/12); and
■About 20% of U.S. residents remained in the top 1% of health care spenders for at least two consecutive years.
Individuals who remained in the top 1% for at least two consecutive years tended to be white women in poor health, elderly and those enrolled in public health insurance plans (USA Today, 1/11).

Highest, Lowest Spenders on Health Care

The report also found that high-income individuals and those with health plans tended to be the highest spenders (National Journal, 1/11). The report noted the following characteristics of the health care spenders in the top 10% in 2009:

■80% were white;
■60% were women (USA Today, 1/11);
■42.9% were ages 65 or older (HealthLeaders Media, 1/12);
■3% were between ages 18 and 29; and
■2% were Asian.

In addition, Hispanics tended to spend less on health care, with 25% of Hispanics among the bottom half of health care spending and just 7% in the top 10% of spenders (USA Today, 1/11).

Read more: http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2012/1/12/1-of-us-residents-accounting-for-20-of-total-health-spending.aspx#ixzz1jpkSsrux

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Not Good News for California Employers or Employees

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

January 4, 2012, 5:22 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento— Fewer California companies offered their workers health insurance last year, and the ones that did charged employees more for their coverage.

That's among the findings of an annual California Employer Health Benefits Survey released Wednesday by the California HealthCare Foundation, a research and grant-making nonprofit organization.

According to the survey, premiums for employer health insurance plans have risen 153.5% since 2002, a rate that's more than five times the increase in California's inflation rate.

In the last two years alone, the proportion of state employers offering coverage to workers fell to 63% from 73%, the survey said.

"This is a departure from previous years and could be an early sign of future changes," the foundation report noted in commentary on data collected between July and October 2011 in interviews with 770 private firm benefit managers.

The steady rise in costs during a prolonged economic downturn contributed to decisions by about a quarter of employers to either reduce benefits or increase cost sharing for employees in 2011. A slightly smaller percentage, 22%, opted to make workers pay more of the share of the higher premiums.

Health insurance is expected to take even more money out of workers' pockets this year. The survey indicated that 36% of California firms said they were either "very" or somewhat" likely to raise the amount that their staff paid in premiums in 2012.

Rising costs and shrinking coverage are accelerating, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a group that advocates for expanded health insurance coverage.

"They are frankly multi-decade trends," he said. "What is notable is that this is more significant than usual."

What's been a "gradual erosion of employer-based coverage in good years" has evolved into "a steep one in bad years," Wright said. "To be down to 63% [of California companies offering coverage] is huge. It used to be up over 80%."

Patrick Johnston, president of the California Assn. of Health Plans, blamed the rising premiums on expensive technology, the spread of chronic disease and an aging population, among other factors. Johnston's organization represents 40 California health plans that cover 21 million people.

What's more, he noted that years of cutting reimbursements to doctors and hospitals by the government-run Medi-Cal program have created a "cost shift" that has to be "made up in negotiations for higher rates for commercial payers such as employers."

Insurer profits, Johnston argued, are not a leading cost driver since publicly traded California insurers keep only 13 cents out of every premium dollar to pay for expenses and to secure earnings that average 3% to 5% of revenue.

Both Wright and Johnston predicted that full implementation of President Obama's healthcare reform plan in 2014 could go a long way toward broadening coverage and to an eventual control of raging medical cost inflation.

"I hope that some of the reforms start to change the picture," Wright said. "It's clear that if we repeal [the law] or retreat back to the status quo, we will have some trends that simply are unsustainable."

marc.lifsher@latimes.com
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Consumers Are Using HSAs to Control Healthcare Costs

Employers and consumers are adopting health savings accounts (HSAs) to manage their healthcare costs without compromising care, according to two national surveys. Seventy-seven percent of small employers believe that high deductible health plans (HDHP) with an HSA are key in controlling healthcare costs. Additionally, 56% of account holders have found that their HSA-qualified plan provides an affordable healthcare option, according to the “2011 Employer and Account Holder Surveys,” commissioned by ACS, A Xerox Company and conducted by Buck Consultants. “HSAs are doing more than just saving consumers and employers money. They are prompting a shift in behavior that is helping employees make better decisions about their own healthcare,” said Tom Hricik of ACS.

Three-quarters of respondents say that the ability to control their own health costs is an extremely or very important benefit of HSAs. Account holders are setting aside more money to cover potential medical costs than before they had an HSA (54%); engaging in healthier lifestyle choices (18%); researching preventive care programs (18%); shopping for lower priced prescription drugs (28%); and planning healthcare better throughout the year (31%). People perceive that they consume medical services at approximately the same rate but are shopping around for care more than before.

Employers report that the cost of providing HSA-qualified plans is less than the cost of providing a standard PPO. The average direct cost to provide an HDHP/HSA is $5,469 for individual coverage and $9,909 for family coverage. In comparison, the average PPO cost is $7,158 for individuals and $10,691 for family.

Surveyed employers are extremely committed to offering employer-sponsored health insurance and retaining their HSA-qualified plans. Only 6% said they are very likely to discontinue the HSA-qualified plan. And only 7% said they are very likely to move employees to future healthcare exchanges.

Other significant findings include the following:

• The average employer that implemented an HDHP and HSA program has 49% of eligible employees enrolled.

• 69% of employers contributed to their employees’ HSA accounts.

• Employer HSA contributions average $1,000 for individual coverage and $1,500 for family coverage.

• 72% of account holders chose the HSA-qualified plan over other plan options.

• 82% of account holders said that the ability to save tax-free money was extremely or very important in selecting an HSA-qualified plan.

• 79% of account holders say that having an HSA is valuable to them.

• Sixty-four percent of account holders say that their HDHP/HSA combination meets their family’s needs

Every Small Business Needs to Know About These Potential Regulatory Changes

Our Payroll Affiliate released its list of the top 12 potential regulatory changes that small businesses need to know about in 2012.

• Health Coverage W2 – The IRS further delayed a requirement for smaller employers to report the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on employee Forms W-2, indefinitely postponing it until further guidance is issued. However, employers that file 250 or more Forms W-2 in 2011 must include this cost on the W-2 starting in tax year 2012. The healthcare amounts reported on the W-2 will be strictly informational and not taxable to the employee.

• Healthcare Reform – The Supreme Court is expected to rule in 2012 on the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision in the Affordable Care Act.

• 401(k) – In 2012, 401(k) service providers will have to make additional fee disclosures to plan sponsors and plan sponsors will have to make additional fee disclosures to participants. Contribution limits will increase in 2012. Regulations will be enacted in 2012 or are under consideration to broaden the definition of a plan fiduciary, make investment advice more accessible to plan participants, and restrict the number of loans an employee can take from their 401(k).

• Job Creation – Congress passed legislation in 2011 to provide a tax credit for hiring veterans. The temporary reduction of employee payroll taxes was due to expire on December 31, 2011, but Congress extended the provision for two more months. A new recapture provision applies to employees who earn more than $18,350 during the two-month period. The tax cut could extend through 2012, pending further negotiations. Congress is considering additional measures, such as earmarking funding for infrastructure projects and passing measures to help small businesses access capital.

• Worker Classification – IRS is allowing eligible employers to reclassify workers as employees in exchange for partial tax relief from past federal employment taxes. In late 2011, the Dept. of Labor agreed to work with the IRS and several states to coordinate enforcement. Legislation in several states to increase fines for worker misclassification may affect employers in 2012.

• Deficit Reduction – Proposed legislation focuses on reducing the deficit through spending reductions and tax increases. Many of the ideas involve reforming personal and business tax and closing of tax loopholes.

• Immigration – The federal government is conducting rigorous worksite enforcement and paperwork inspections of companies of all sizes to crack down on the employment of illegal immigrants. In 2012, state laws will require more private sector employers to use the federal E-verify system for employee verification. Also possible in 2012 are Congressional immigration reform proposals that may include additional federal employment verification obligations.

• Employment Law – Many states restrict employers from using an employee’s credit information in employment-related decisions or are considering these resrictions. The Dept. of Labor and many states have enacted or are considering regulations to provide greater transparency of pay checks. These regulations focus on how workers’ pay is calculated, especially as it relates to minimum wage and overtime requirements.

• Security and Privacy – Cybercrime and corporate bank account takeovers against small businesses are becoming more widespread. Employers should take security precautions, such as using stand-alone computers for online banking; not clicking on attachments or hyperlinks from unknown sources; and working with their bank to implement fraud detection tools on their accounts. Many states have enacted onerous privacy and security breach regulations.

• Dodd-Frank – The sweeping Dodd-Frank financial law is focused primarily on Wall Street reforms and consumer protection. However small businesses may face limited access to credit and higher costs of credit or other financial services because of the increased burden it places on some industries.

• Unemployment Insurance – Virtually all businesses will face higher unemployment insurance taxes if Congress reinstates the federal unemployment surtax. In many states, employers will see higher taxes because of the repayment of outstanding federal loans that were taken to continue paying benefits and replenish depleted state unemployment trust funds. Many states are cosidering additional employer reporting requirements to combat unemployment insurance fraud.

• Taxes – 2012 will bring a number of important tax changes including a higher Social Security wage base and changes to assistance benefit limits. The accelerated depreciation benefits, which were in place in 2011, may expire or be scaled back in 2012. All employers will need to keep an eye on what are likely to be additional tax changes as the year progresses.

Contact us with your questions or concerns and we can assit you and get the answers you need.

800-334-7875 or email; info@amsinsure.com

Employees Don’t Understand Their Benefits


HR decision makers say that only about 60% of their employees understand their benefits, according to a study. Surprisingly, 36% of large employers and 66% of midsized employers have no budget set aside for employee benefit communications. About half of HR decision-makers say their budget for benefit communications has remained the same in the past year and only a minority expect it to increase in one or two years.

Fifty-one percent of large employers and 72% of midsized companies don’t provide decision support tools to help employees understand their benefits, even though a majority of HR decision makers say that these tools are important. Decision support tools are typically software applications, available through a company website, that allow employees to compare healthcare plans.

The following are the most commonly used decision support tools: a flexible spending account calculator, a plan-comparison chart, a medical-cost calculator, and wellness-incentive modeling. One out of five large companies that do not provide decision support tools plan to do so in the next couple of years. Only 13% of midsized companies that do not provide decision support tools plan to do so in the next year or two. Sixty percent of HR decision makers say that mobile access to benefit information is important, yet only 46% of large companies and 39% of midsized companies provide it.

The following are the mobile application features that HR decision-makers are most interested in: healthcare provider information, benefit alerts, and single sign-on.

Eighty-six percent of large companies and 71% of midsized companies offer employee benefit information online. Eighty-six percent of large and midsized employers with a web-based portal think it is important for employees to have 24/7 access to benefit information, yet only 72% of large employers and 66% of midsized employers provide it.

HR decision-makers say that allowing employees to modify their own data allows them to maintain more accurate information, field fewer calls from employees, and lower their administrative burden. For more information, visit www.ADP.com.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

2012 Minimum Wage Rates Guide

. It is vital for managers to stay in compliance with state and federal minimum wage laws. If the state minimum wage rate is different than the federal minimum wage rate, then the employer should apply the higher rate to its employees.

The 2012 Minimum Wage Guide helps you:
• Get an overview of the federal and state minimum wage rates,
• Determine which rates to provide employees in a particular state,
• Confirm whether current minimum wage law posters are in place, and
• Provides a historical perspective of minimum wage rates in past recent years.

Our HR Support has access to the 2012 Minimum Wage Rates Guide, visit the HR Support Center, see if this is something for you and then ask us how you get it.

info@amsinsure.com

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Accident Coverage: Helping Insureds

Many people think they’re most likely to get injured in a car accident or on the job. But home-related injuries cause nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical visits each year. Unintentional home injuries cost Americans at least $222 billion per year in medical expenses, with an additional $165 billion in medical costs from injuries that possibly occurred in the home. Are you financially prepared for the toll an accidental injury can take? Read on for details.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Existing labor laws updated for 2012

All employers should begin the new year by considering the changes that have been made, as usual, to California employment laws.

Although none of the new laws that come into effect this year represents a sea change in the world of labor, and many involve obscure issues that will likely not effect the average employer, there are a number of important revisions to existing laws that need to be considered.

Perhaps the biggest change is AB 469, which requires employers, as of today, to provide new hires with written notice of their pay rate, the amount of any allowances (such as meals or lodging), the designated payday, the employer’s name and any fictitious business names, the physical address and telephone number of the employer's main office, information regarding the employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier and any other information the California labor commissioner might determine is necessary.

Fortunately, the law only applies to non-exempt employees and the labor commissioner will prepare a template for employers to follow in making this disclosure.

However, the law allows employees to now collect attorneys’ fees to enforce a judgment for unpaid wages, increases the statute of limitations for the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement to collect unpaid wages from one to three years and makes it a misdemeanor if an employer willfully fails to pay wages within 90 days after a final judgment for wages is issued.

In addition, SB 299 requires employers with five or more employees to maintain and pay for health care coverage under a group health plan for females employees who take pregnancy disability leave. On a related subject, AB 592 revises language within the California Family Rights Act and the Pregnancy Disability Leave law that makes it unlawful to interfere with the exercise of those rights.

Another issue that has endlessly vexed employers, and more than a few lawyers, is whether a worker should be treated as an employee or an “independent contractor.”

The general rule tends to fall within the realm of “you know it when you see it” as California law looks at a series of somewhat subjective factors to determine how a worker should be classified.

The single most important factor is whether the employer has the right to control “the manner and means of accomplishing the result desired.” In other words, does the employer ultimately “call the shots” or is it left to the discretion of the person doing the work.

Secondary factors include whether the person is treated the same or nearly the same as the regular employees of the company (do they receive, for example, the same pay or benefits) and do both the employer and employee believe they have created an employer-employee relationship.

The question of whether to treat a worker as an independent contractor has always been fraught with risk for employers. There are serious tax implications involved, and in California there are potentially expensive wage and hour violations if a person is paid as an independent contractor when they should have been treated as an employee.

New SB 459 adds to the seriousness of the issue by imposing significant penalties on employers who “willfully misclassify” employees as independent contractors. Penalties of $5,000 to $25,000 per violation are now possible under this new statute.

The key issue in the statute is, of course, what does “willfully misclassify” mean? The statute defines the term as “avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as an independent contractor.”

This doesn’t tell us much other than the courts will apparently look not only at whether a potential employee has been misclassified but also at the employer’s intent in arriving at a classification. Thus, as with all of these new laws, the possibility of getting into serious trouble always exists and employers must tread as carefully as possible.


We offer an HR Portal which can help you stay up with changes, provide all your HR needs and its a free value added service for our clients.