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On May 5, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”), which requires employers to help protect workers from airborne infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. The law is the result of sustained efforts by labor unions and public interest groups for enactment of enforceable health and safety protections…
Author Archives: Levy Ratner
Coming Soon: No Surprise Medical Billing
The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”), signed into law last December, contains the No Surprises Act. This is very good news for health plan participants. The law protects plan participants from surprise medical billing and provides transparency about medical providers’ fees. However, these protections don’t kick in until 2022. Frequently, a person goes…
DOL Releases Guidance on COBRA Premium Assistance
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted in March 2021, authorizes temporary COBRA premium assistance to certain individuals and their dependents who have lost employer-sponsored health coverage due to involuntary termination of employment (other than for gross misconduct) or reduction of hours. The assistance reduces the amount of COBRA premiums to zero for the period…
New York Establishes Historic Excluded Workers Fund
The 2022 New York State Budget created a $2.1 billion program for workers who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are ineligible for Unemployment Insurance, federal stimulus payments, or other federal COVID-related benefits due to their immigration status. Immigrant communities have been disproportionately burdened by the pandemic in terms of their health and…
Challenging Boston’s Discriminatory Police Promotion Tests
Levy Ratner’s Rebekah Cook-Mack are proud to represent the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers in an Amicus Brief with the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Smith v. City of Boston, which challenges Boston’s use of a discriminatory promotional test to select Police Lieutenants. Levy Ratner stands with the Black and Latino police officers who…
IRS Confirms Face Masks and Sanitizer Are Tax-Deductible
On March 26, 2020, the IRS announced that the amounts you paid to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against the spread of COVID-19, such as face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes are eligible to be deducted as medical expenses on your 2020 tax return. The IRS advises that taxpayers may be eligible…
NYS Establishes Emergency Grant Program for Essential Workers
If you are an essential worker, first responder, or healthcare worker, you may be eligible for New York State’s Empire Pandemic Response Reimbursement Fund. Announced on March 6, 2021, the Fund was designed to help eligible essential workers who responded to the public health emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic and are in financial need. Up…
Tax Break for Unemployment Benefits in 2020 | Levy Ratner
In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law an economic stimulus bill called the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The law includes a special federal tax break for workers who received unemployment benefits in 2020: the first $10,200 ($20,400 if married and filing jointly) of unemployment compensation is not taxable. This benefit applies to…
There’s Still Time to Get Affordable Health Coverage!
If you are considering purchasing health coverage (perhaps using your $1400 stimulus payment) but haven’t yet, you still have time. In addition, that coverage might be less expensive. The 2021 Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period to buy health coverage on the health insurance marketplace (also known as the exchanges) ended December 15, 2020….
Congress Extends A Lifeline To Troubled Pension Funds
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) brings welcome news to multiemployer, union-sponsored defined benefit plans that have become insolvent or are in danger of becoming insolvent. See LR’s What You Need to Know Now here, which discussed the COBRA subsidy provisions of the ARPA. A defined benefit plan is the traditional form of…