Pennsylvania State Court Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Dental Practice Seeking Coverage for Business Income Losses Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic April 01, 2021 In what appears to be the first Pennsylvania State Court ruling which addresses in detail the “physical loss of or damage to” hurdle for COVID-19 business interruption claims in property […]

Federal OSHA COVID-19 related Complaints and Inspections March 30, 2021 OSHA has published statistics on their response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. According to the OSHA COVID-19 Response summary, between February 1, 2020 and March 7, 2021 Federal OSHA has received at total of 16,025 complaints and referrals. These are typically the events that trigger an […]

4th Quarter 2020 Compliance Recap January 12, 2021 The final quarter of 2020 was perhaps the most “normal” with respect to all issues compliance- and benefits-related. We saw the typical updates of federal limits for various benefits/fees and some additional guidance around various Covid-19 related benefits issues. One surprise was perhaps the Covid-19 relief bill […]

Significant Benefits Issues in New COVID-19 Relief Legislation January 06, 2021 The COVID-19 relief bill recently passed by Congress contains several important employee benefit-related provisions, including restrictions on “surprise medical bills,” new plan and health cost reporting rules, and additional flexibility for participants of health flexible spending accounts (HFSAs) and dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs). […]

How to Approach Renewals in a Hard Market December 17, 2020 A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine a world that looks like the one we are living in today. Pricing in the commercial insurance market was already “hardening” for a number of reasons, and the spread of COVID-19 has compounded the […]

New Jersey Executive Order 192 November 09, 2020 Last week, New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 192 to expand health and safety requirements for public and private businesses in all industries* effective at 6:00 am on Thursday, November 5th to better protect New Jersey employees from being exposed to COVID-19. The order recaps […]

CDC Redefines “Close Contact” October 27, 2020 What changed? The CDC updated the guidance on how COVID-19 may be spread to uninfected people based on recent study findings. The CDC changed the definition of “close contact” as it relates to COVID-19 exposure risk.   Previously, the CDC defined “close contact” as having been within 6 feet […]

A Crack in the Armor of Physical Loss or Damage Requirements in Business Income Loss Policies October 26, 2020 A North Carolina judge has issued what looks to be the first decision finding that property policies “provide coverage for Business Income and Extra Expenses for [businessowners’] loss of use and access to covered property mandated […]

Using Paycheck Protection Program Loan Contingency Insurance as a Hedge October 19, 2020 As companies who received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are considering whether to seek forgiveness of those loans, they should also consider whether to hedge that forgiveness with Paycheck Protection Program Loan Contingency Insurance. Consider a company who received the PPP loan […]

California Senate Bill 1159 – Workers Compensation Presumption and New Reporting Requirements October 13, 2020 On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1159 (“SB 1159”) which modifies and extends the Governor’s Executive Order from earlier this year, creating a disputable presumption that an illness or death related to COVID-19 […]