As an Attorney practicing Immigration law for over 20 years, I have some suggestions for Business Immigration Reforms.
I will confine this blog to reforms in the H-1B and L-1 categories.
First and foremost, we need to overhaul our entire Immigration system. However, Immigration and Health Care is too huge to overhaul in one step. It should be done in baby steps.
For Immigration, we should start with Business Immigration first. This is because both Democrats and Republicans agree on most of the issues.
H-1B:
Eliminate the quota, but become stricter on enforcement. Make employers PROVE that the job is there, and it is real. Make site visits mandatory where the Sponsor has less than 200 employees. If an H-1B employee lose his job, he will get an automatic 6 months to stay in the US. After that time, if he has found no jobs, he has to leave. He can also switch to a dependent visa like H-4, but cannot switch to a student visa (F-1), without going back to the home country. If an Employer is found to have changed the resumes of the Employee in order to get a job for that employee, then both the Employer and the Employee will be barred from future filings for 5 years. The Employee will never be given the chance to adjust status through employment and will be deportable.
L-1A:
Focus more on viability and less on job description. If a Japanese restaurant owner has to oversee cooks and waiters who are not “Professional” employees, it’s no big deal. What matters is, is the restaurant viable? Is it making money, and will it survive? If a large multinational, foreign Company, (for instance let’s say Suzuki) wants a small office in the US, which coordinates their North American business, then they should be allowed to have an L-1. Even though they may not be creating US jobs, the fact that they are doing business means that they are helping US population in some way. When the time comes for the Company to grow in the US, they will grow. But by denying them the right to have a small office, we will actually drive business to Canada or Mexico. Whether the manager is managing a function, or doing full time managerial job is immaterial. Good managers do everything. If you are the CEO of a profitable company, you can clean a room, if it looks bad, and you have the time. It won’t kill you.
L-1B:
The focus should be on the technical aspect, and not so much on the proprietary aspect. We have a shortage of technical people in the US. So even though it’s fair to say that the job has to be proprietary to the Company, the focus should be on whether the Employer can get anyone in the US to do the job with some training. If the Company is viable and profitable, then we should let the Company prosper with their L-1B candidates. After all, they will pay US taxes.
For more information contact Banerjee & Associates
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Legendary disc jockey and radio host Casey Kasem died last year, as many of you in Michigan remember. There was a legal fight in the final months of his life in which Kasem’s kids from his first marriage were battling Jean Kasem, Casey’s widow, over how to care for the ailing icon as he suffered through a form of dementia.
Recently, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced it was not filing elder abuse charges against Jean Kasem stemming from the case, in which she removed Casey from an elder-care facility in California and moved him to Washington state, where he eventually died.
The Debate over Health Care
The Kasem kids maintained that the care he was getting in California was consistent with Casey’s wishes, to be resting comfortably surrounded by family and friends, while Jean said he moved Casey for his own good to mitigate “media scrutiny.” It took six months for Kasem’s body to be buried, which it finally was at a cemetery in Norway last December.
You can look through all the dysfunction here and see the underlying issue in this situation. There seemed to be no etched-in-stone document such as a health-care directive, power of attorney or living will that stated Kasem’s specific wishes for care should he be unable to care for himself. We don’t know whether that was an oversight on his part, or whether there was advice against it from another party, but it’s clear that had such a document been on file, there would have been a more clear direction either to pursue the criminal charges against Jean Kasem, or at least a chance that Casey’s death would not have fractured the family.
The Ultimate Takeaway
If there is a lesson to be learned from the case study that is Casey Kasem, it is this – make sure you have your estate laid out well before your faculties leave, including a health care directive. Always prepare for the worst even as you expect the best. And whenever your thoughts change about what to do, or whether your situation changes – like divorce, death of a spouse, re-marriage, more children – all of your legal documents should be updated to reflect these changes.
For the sake of your family, do not leave this to chance. A health care directive, power of attorney and living will should all be vital parts of any Michigan estate. Putting those documents together is a valuable part of estate planning in Michigan and around the country. If you want your family to be united in celebrating your life after your pass, it would be wise to have everything in order beforehand so your memorial service is not attended by lawyers you did not know. Having a health care directive and power of attorney in place with the help of a quality estate-planning attorney – a process that could take a few hours or a couple of days – can be a wise investment in saving thousands of dollars and months of legal wrangling among family members. If you leave an inheritance, you intend to leave it for your loved ones to pass forward to others in an altruistic way, not to pay attorney bills.
If you are in Michigan and need a health-care directive or power of attorney, need to update or change an existing document, or you want more information about these documents and their roles in your estate, be sure to reach out to an estate planning attorney with offices in Brighton for sound advice.
The post Health Care Directive: The Casey Kasem Story appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.
The post Health Care Directive: The Casey Kasem Story first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>
Legendary disc jockey and radio host Casey Kasem died last year, as many of you in Michigan remember. There was a legal fight in the final months of his life in which Kasem’s kids from his first marriage were battling Jean Kasem, Casey’s widow, over how to care for the ailing icon as he suffered through a form of dementia.
Recently, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced it was not filing elder abuse charges against Jean Kasem stemming from the case, in which she removed Casey from an elder-care facility in California and moved him to Washington state, where he eventually died.
The Debate over Health Care
The Kasem kids maintained that the care he was getting in California was consistent with Casey’s wishes, to be resting comfortably surrounded by family and friends, while Jean said he moved Casey for his own good to mitigate “media scrutiny.” It took six months for Kasem’s body to be buried, which it finally was at a cemetery in Norway last December.
You can look through all the dysfunction here and see the underlying issue in this situation. There seemed to be no etched-in-stone document such as a health-care directive, power of attorney or living will that stated Kasem’s specific wishes for care should he be unable to care for himself. We don’t know whether that was an oversight on his part, or whether there was advice against it from another party, but it’s clear that had such a document been on file, there would have been a more clear direction either to pursue the criminal charges against Jean Kasem, or at least a chance that Casey’s death would not have fractured the family.
The Ultimate Takeaway
If there is a lesson to be learned from the case study that is Casey Kasem, it is this – make sure you have your estate laid out well before your faculties leave, including a health care directive. Always prepare for the worst even as you expect the best. And whenever your thoughts change about what to do, or whether your situation changes – like divorce, death of a spouse, re-marriage, more children – all of your legal documents should be updated to reflect these changes.
For the sake of your family, do not leave this to chance. A health care directive, power of attorney and living will should all be vital parts of any Michigan estate. Putting those documents together is a valuable part of estate planning in Michigan and around the country. If you want your family to be united in celebrating your life after your pass, it would be wise to have everything in order beforehand so your memorial service is not attended by lawyers you did not know. Having a health care directive and power of attorney in place with the help of a quality estate-planning attorney – a process that could take a few hours or a couple of days – can be a wise investment in saving thousands of dollars and months of legal wrangling among family members. If you leave an inheritance, you intend to leave it for your loved ones to pass forward to others in an altruistic way, not to pay attorney bills.
If you are in Michigan and need a health-care directive or power of attorney, need to update or change an existing document, or you want more information about these documents and their roles in your estate, be sure to reach out to an estate planning attorney with offices in Brighton for sound advice.
The post Health Care Directive: The Casey Kasem Story appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.
The post Health Care Directive: The Casey Kasem Story first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>by Thomas D. Begley, Jr., CELA
As the population of the United States tend to age and Baby Boomers begin retiring in large numbers, there are a number of problems that will affect the elderly that need to be addressed.
- Retirement Income. In 2012, people age 65 and older had an average income of $31,742, but the median income was less than $19, 604. About 30% of older Americans receive pensions. The median was $12,000. Only 46.5% of older Americans reported income from personal savings, but half receive $255 or less per year. The mean was $3,233 per year. Only 20% of older Americans had dividend income with the median amount being $1,200.[1] Social Security is the only source of income for 25% of older adults in New Jersey.[2] It is generally estimated that for a comfortable retirement a person must have an income equal to 70% of salary in the year just before retirement. Most experts advise saving 10% per year of one’s annual income beginning at age 25. Social Security plays a vital role in reducing poverty. Almost 90% of people age 65 or older receive some of their family income from Social Security. The Social Security Retirement System is expected to be able to pay full benefits through 2033. Thereafter, only 75% of benefits will be funded. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund paying disability benefits to disabled workers is expected to be solvent through only 2016, at which point only 81% of benefits can be funded. This problem has been discussed nationally for over 20 years, and Congress has always managed to dodge the hard decisions. The replacement of pensions with 401k plans has been disastrous for low-income workers. Workers in the top fifth in income account for 72% of total savings in retirement accounts.
- Health Care. Health care spending has increased significantly. While this spending has declined over the last three years, the Brookings Institute believes that health care will continue to grow 1.2% faster than GDP over the next 20 years and will consume close to 25% of GDP. Health care costs will continue to grow at GDP plus 1.2% for the foreseeable future.[3] A couple, both age 65 in 2012, living an average life expectancy, could need as much as $220,000 to cover premiums for health insurance coverage and out-of-pocket expenses during retirement. It is estimated that these households should expect medical bills to consume 61% of their Social Security payments by 2027.[4]
Medicare. Medicare covers only about one-half of retiree health expenses. Medicare has three components: Hospital Insurance (HI) or Medicare Part A; Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) consisting of Medicare Part B and Part D. The SMI program is not threatened with insolvency, because premiums are reset on an annual basis based on actual expenditures. The Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Fund estimate that the HI Program can remain solvent until 2030. Again, this is a problem that has been discussed nationally for over 20 years and Congress has refused to m
[1] Sources of Income for Older Americans 2012, Ke Bin Wu, AARP Public Policy Institute, www.aarp.org.
[2] The Elder Economic Security Standard Index for New Jersey.
[3] Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, www.brookings.edu.
[4] Fidelity Estimates Couples Retiring in 2013 Will Need $220,000 to Pay Medical Expenses Throughout Retirement, www.fidelity.com.
The post SPECIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE ELDERLY – PART 1 first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>