May 11, 2010 - The Affects of Health Care Reform on Employers and Executives
The passage of the long-debated Health Care Reform package created many new challenges and opportunities for insured and self-funded employer health care plans, employee benefit consultants and individuals, especially executives. The time to start planning for these changes is now.

While this is not an examination of every detail in the Health Care Reform bill, the following charts will help you identify the changes of greatest importance to your business and develop a game plan for addressing them. Note: Effective dates for union plans will not be earlier than the expiration of the bargaining agreement in effect on March 23, 2010. To read the entire article, click on the title above.

April 27, 2010 - Considerations - Traditional IRA to Roth IRA Conversion
In 2010, an important Roth IRA rule change went into effect as part of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act signed by President George W. Bush in 2006. In the past, individuals could not convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA if their income exceeded $100,000 and those who were married filing separately could not convert regardless of what they earned. Effective January 1, 2010, traditional IRA holders are able to convert to a Roth IRA with no income limit. Also, as a one-time offer for 2010 only, the law allows the taxes on the entire conversion amount either to be reported in full for 2010, or spread out equally over the next two tax years (2011 and 2012 only). The married-filing–separately restriction was also repealed. Please click the title to read more.

April 15, 2010 - Health Care Reform Tax Changes: Who Wins and Who Pays?
The ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ (a/k/a “Health Care Reform”) became law on March 23, 2010, with certain “fixes” contained in the ‘Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010’ being signed into law one week later on March 30, 2010. The combined legislation contains numerous tax provisions. This On Point Position Paper will take a look at how it will affect the federal tax picture and includes a timetable and brief description of the key changes. To read the entire Position Paper, click on the title.

October 26, 2009 - Why Healthcare Reform May Fail…Again
On September 16, 2009, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) found out what happens when you give a party and nobody comes. On that date he took the podium alone before a roomful of journalists and formally announced his health care reform bill.  Apparently, no colleagues from either party were willing to stand with him. Small wonder, the legislation included $500 billion in Medicare cuts, mandated universal coverage, member-owned purchasing “co-ops”, a potential price tag only slightly below $1 trillion and no public option. In short, it had something for everybody to dislike. Is it possible that the phrase in italics is the reason why yet another attempt to reform America’s health care system may fail? If every provision in a Health Care Reform bill is opposed by someone, the accumulative affect of this opposition could potentially defeat the bill.

October 12, 2009 - Around the Health Care Reform Debate in Less Than Two Pages
The week ending October 9, 2009 was a quiet one compared with the frenzied activity of previous weeks.  Health Care Reform Fatigue Syndrome (HCRFS) could be part of it; there may also be a growing sense of resignation out there that the reform debate may be becoming more destructive than most any reform itself could be.  If true, this may be a dangerous mindset.  Nevertheless, the week was not without a few noteworthy developments. To read the entire article, simply click on the title.

October 5, 2009 – Health Care Reform Update
The reform process is moving ahead, albeit, slowly. Our paper this week examines two newsworthy items that emerged during the past several days. On September 29th, the Senate Finance Committee rejected two public option proposals. The second story involves the growing concern over the potential penalty for failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance. Is it possible that citizens who don’t buy individual health insurance could be sent to prison? Click on the above title to read more.

September 28, 2009 - Health Care Reform – A Look at the Baucus Proposal
Health care reform proposals, particularly from the U.S. Senate, are coming so quickly and are changing so fast that it is difficult to offer sound commentary on their merits. Some of the most noteworthy proposals remain visible for such a short time they are almost like subliminal messages. Nevertheless, we have been able to glean a few common themes from the Baucus bill now before the Senate Finance Committee. Even with their 564 amendments (yes, true!) we think these provisions may remain in play for awhile. To read the entire article, simply click on the title.

September 11, 2009 - M&A Assessment of President Obama's Health Care Speech to Congress
President Obama's Health Care Reform speech of September 9th generated a huge volume of commentary. One can only imagine the outpouring of "boos" and "yeas" from every talking head and every television and radio show in the land. Our hope is that the speech rekindles some forward movement on the much-needed reform. In the meantime, we want to offer our comments on some of the key points in the president's speech. To read the entire article, simply click on the title.

September 4, 2009 - M&A On Point Position Paper - Health Care Reform - Is the Public Option Doomed?
In the beginning, a Public Option was assumed to be an integral part of Health Care Reform. However, in the past few weeks, the strength of that assumption has weakened considerably. The question now seems to be, will it even survive? For insight into that question, just click the title above.

August 31, 2009 - M&A On Point Position Paper - The  "Lion" Casts a Huge Shadow Over Healthcare Reform Debate
Throughout his career, Senator Edward M. Kennedy fought to ensure that all Americans would have access to high quality, affordable health care. His death came at a time when the debate over Health Care Reform was at its peak. Only time will tell what affect the passing of “The Lion of the Senate” will have on the final legislation. To read the full article, just click on the title.

August 19, 2009 - M&A On Point Position Paper - Health Care Reform
From the beginning, we have been monitoring developments in the Health Care Reform debate, and what a debate it has been! Thankfully, Congress took its summer recess and the pace of Reform has slowed. We took advantage of this lull in the action to document some of our thoughts on the major points of the pending reform. Our challenge was to comment on these issues before they changed, which they seemed to do every hour. To read the full article, just click on the title.

June 30, 2009 - Tax Deductibility of Unpaid Employee Welfare Benefit Claims
The rules governing the deductibility of Incurred But Not Reported claims (IBNR) in an employee welfare benefit program are complex. This complexity has led benefits and accounting professionals of every stripe to offer incorrect interpretations to clients and employers. The purpose of this Position Paper is to clarify those rules and the circumstances under which employers may claim a deduction. To read the full article, just click on the title.