Illinois State Law Changes

New Year, New Laws

A new year always holds the promise of a new, fresh start as well as those hopeful resolutions.  This year the Illinois State legislator has made a plethora of new resolutions to brighten 2010.  Click here to read.  For employers, these laws have opened the door to a number of new exposures.

Have Company Cars – Your Exposed!

Business auto policies pay 100% for losses involving company-owned vehicles, not matter whether the accident occurs on-duty or off-duty. Click to read more about company car liability issues.

• Cell Phones (HB 72/PA 96-0131): Prohibits drivers from using cell phones in school or construction zones unless using a hands-free device.
• Court Fines (SB 1341/PA 96-0625): Imposes an additional $10 fee on any person who receives court supervision for a Vehicle Code violation to be deposited into the Driver’s Education Fund.
• Off Road Vehicles (HB 2455/PA 96-279): Makes several changes to the definition of non-highway vehicles in the Illinois Vehicle Code and requires that all non-highway vehicles operated on a street, highway or roadway be subject to Illinois’ minimum liability insurance limits. A non-highway vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle not specifically designed for use on a public highway including the following: all-terrain vehicles, golf carts, off-highway motorcycles, neighborhood vehicles.
• Texting (HB 71/PA 96-0130): Prohibits people operating a motor vehicle from using an electronic communication device, like a phone or computer, to compose, send or read an electronic message, but does not include a global positioning system, navigation system, or a device that is physically or electronically integrated into the motor vehicle.
• Trucking (HB 3956/PA 96-0524): Increases the speed limit to 65 mph for big trucks traveling on interstates outside Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties.
• Uninsured Motorists (HB 370/PA 96-0143): Increases the penalty for individuals caught operating an uninsured motor vehicle, if that uninsured vehicle causes bodily harm to come to another person.
• Vehicle Seizure (HB 253/PA 96-0502): Allows for the seizure and forfeiture of a motor vehicle driven while the offender’s driver’s license or privileges are suspended or revoked because of a reckless homicide

Provide Employee Benefits – Are You Compliant?

Even though Health Care Reform is ready to be rolled out, there are still new laws on the books that require immediate attention and compliance.  Click here to follow where legislation is on Health Care Reform.

• E-Verify (SB 1133/PA 96-0623): Allows employers to use the E-Verify Program and the Basic Pilot Program to help them verify the employment eligibility of new employees.
• Medicaid Payment Penalty (HB 237/PA 96-0802): Establishes that Medicaid bills must be paid within 60 days of receiving the bill and increases late-payment penalties to two percent (now one percent) per month to help providers offset the costs accrued while waiting for the payment, and encourage more prompt payment of bills by the state.
• Wellness (SB 1877/PA 96-0639): Provides that a health insurance policy that provides coverage for treatment on an expense incurred basis, may offer a program for wellness coverage.

Embracing technology

This article is an oldie but still very relevant, thus my repost.

Embracing technology
Brokers need to get with the program on self-service, administrative technology

Like all good business people, brokers put a premium on their relationships with clients. But in the Internet age, the sharpest also realize that even with a good product, a smile and a firm handshake, you need something more to close a deal.

Many experts believe that something more can be found in technology that makes life easier and more efficient for both the employer and the broker. And if brokers have not caught on to the benefits, they need to do so now, or they are not going to survive.

“Information flows fast and furious between clients, insurance carriers and producers,” observes Michael Wojcik, senior vice president of the Chicago broker firm The Horton Group. “The new technology allows us to accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time. Brokers that are technology-challenged right now will have a harder time keeping up.”

Quick, efficient, valuable

The debate over how much of the sales and administration process to automate is not new. Ever since high technology invaded the benefits world, brokers have wavered between the efficiency of self-service and the relationships bred from face-to-face interaction, coming to rest somewhere in the middle. But now, although in-person exchanges are still important, brokers are realizing that it is more vital to handle their clients’ benefits issues quickly, efficiently and with as much value as possible. In fact, some believe it is necessary to facilitate face-to-face relationships.

With advances in self-service technology, “clients can handle basic administration without having to call in the insurance broker, so now they can talk about more strategic things such as the future direction of the employee benefit programs,” says Alan Cohen, CEO of OnlineBenefits, a broker partner that provides technological solutions. “Face-to-face interaction is still critical, and on a strategic level, you will always need it.”

It is just that there are other issues that will not necessarily be solved by talking things through. As Wojcik points out, information flows much faster now than it used to. That means employers and carriers expect to get what they need sooner than ever.

“If you do business with 10 or 11 organizations that require you to provide census data on eligibility, you have to provide it to them,” says Richard Travers, managing partner of the New York broker firm Travers O’keefe.

In fact, say Wojcik and Cohen, insurance carriers, not always among the most rapid companies to adopt new benefits technology, have started considering certain capabilities a given when it comes to broker relationships. Many of them, for instance, only will accept RFPs over the Web.

Moreover, employee-consumers are more comfortable researching and buying insurance products over the Web, and they have neither the time nor the patience to attend meetings when they can get the information via computer.

“People skim the Net; they don’t surf it anymore,” comments Michael Hope, a sales consultant at Spindustry, a technology solutions firm that works extensively with brokers. “Research is big. HR people aren’t just taking the agent’s word for it anymore. They’re looking around.”

There’s an overall comfort with the net, period. Five years ago, people probably didn�t want to buy CDs and books over the Web, but they do now.

story

Posted by Craig at December 31, 2003 04:50 PM