Changes Are Coming to Medicare Part D
November 14, 2024 | Cathryn Reher
The Good and Bad of These Changes First, the good news: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will cap the out-of-pocket maximum at $2,000 for all Medicare Part D plans starting January 1, 2025. Medicare Part D plans provide coverage to enrollees for prescription drugs. This will enable Medicare Part D enrollees to better budget if they have had historically high out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. The difficulty of the law change will be the impact for those who are Medicare-eligible but are enrolled through an employer or other health insurance plans. These plans are required to provide health insurance coverage that is just as good or better than Medicare standards. A plan that is as good or better than Medicare standards represents “creditable alternative coverage.” If a plan is not creditable, individuals run the risk of accruing a Late Enrollment Penalty (LEP) for each month they are not enrolled in a plan providing creditable coverage. The specific concern with the Part D law change is that prescription drug coverage under alternative insurance plans may not be as good as the new Medicare Part D coverage and therefore may not meet the creditable alternative coverage requirement. This would then require individuals to drop their employer or other health insurance plans, which are generally more cost-effective than Medicare health insurance plans. The…
Read MoreHow to Coordinate Business Succession & Estate Planning
October 30, 2024 | Carole Clark Isakson
At some point, many business owners execute a will or trust to provide for the disposition of their personal assets. Those dispositions will either specifically or generally deal with their business ownership interests as well. However, business succession planning is also affected by an entity’s governing documents. This blog addresses the possible conflicts between the entity documents and the individual owner’s estate planning documents. Make sure your business attorney and estate planning attorney are each aware of your plans so you can avoid such conflicts. Governing Documents Affect Business Succession Planning When a business owner makes an estate plan, they must decide where all their assets are to go, including ownership in the business. The owner—let’s call her Sam—may wish to leave half of XYZ Properties to her three children for their benefit. So, Sam’s will or trust will state that her ownership interests in the company (or perhaps simply all her assets) are to be divided equally among her three children. Whether or not this will actually happen depends on the governing documents of XYZ Properties. There are several forms of business entities. But no matter the type of business, the owner(s) intentionally created it, and in cases where there is more than one owner, the owner intentionally chose the other person(s) with whom…
Read MoreBGS Proudly Supports the Minnesota Trucking Association
September 20, 2024 | Carole Clark Isakson
As they have for many years, BGS attorneys James Wills and Carole Clark Isakson attended and participated in the annual Minnesota Trucking Association conference in northern Minnesota last month. Corporate paralegal Rachel Schwankl also returned for another year of conference events, and associate Jacob LeVahn attended for the first time this year to round out the team. BGS is a member of the MTA and sponsors various events throughout the year for the organization, including the keynote speaker at the annual conference. This year’s conference featured multiple networking and educational events, including a keynote speaker (introduced by Jake) and Carole’s seminar on various aspects of broker and carrier liability. That topic is key for trucking companies that frequently have an affiliate with a broker’s license or broker freight internally. Understanding the risks inherent in these operations and how to best protect against liability is critical for brokers and carriers. The event was held at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd, and attendees enjoyed both the conference and its location. Daily events included meetings, seminars, and social gatherings. More information on Barna, Guzy & Steffen’s transportation department can be found here: https://www.bgs.com/business-law/transportation-law.
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