Monthly Archives: April 2020

Happy National Healthcare Decisions Day!

Posted on by

 

National Healthcare Decisions Day, celebrated annually on April 16, is a nationwide initiative to inspire, educate, and empower the public and health care providers about the importance of advance healthcare planning. But what, exactly, is advance healthcare planning? Broadly speaking, advance healthcare planning is the process of formulating and documenting your beliefs and wishes in connection with your health care.

Issues to consider in this process include nursing home admission, end-of-life care preferences, and organ donation, just to name a few. After deciding what your wishes are in this regard, the next most important decision is selecting initial and successor health care agents. Your agents should be people that you trust to follow your wishes and make health care decisions on your behalf, if you should become incapacitated. Finally, once you know “what” and “who,” it is imperative that you memorialize your wishes in writing. In the State of Wisconsin, this can be accomplished via various advance health care directives, including Powers of Attorney for Health Care, HIPAA Authorizations for Release of Protected Health Information, and Declarations to Physicians (also referred to as a “Living Will”).

The Conversation Project, the nonprofit organization charged with managing and promoting National Healthcare Decisions Day, has various resources available on its website, including a COVID-19 specific conversations guide. The State Bar of Wisconsin has also made it’s excellent publication, A Gift to Your Family: Planning Ahead for Future Health Needs, available as a free download through April 25, 2020, in recognition of National Healthcare Decisions Day. We hope that these resources will be helpful to you and your family, no matter where you are in the process of your own advance healthcare planning.

If you have any questions on this topic, please contact Lin Law LLC at (920) 393-1190.

CARES Act Authorizes $349 Billion in Forgivable Small Business Loans

Posted on by

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), authorizing the United States Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) to issue up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to eligible small businesses through June 30, 2020. SBA §7(a)-approved lenders will be begin processing loan applications as soon as April 3, 2020.

Under Section 1102 of the CARES Act, the “Paycheck Protection Program,” employers with five hundred (500) or fewer employees can borrow up to an amount equal to 2.5 times the employer’s average monthly payroll expense or $10 million, whichever is less. The Paycheck Protection Program waives a number of the requirements that are typically applicable to SBA loans, caps interest rates at four percent (4%), and provides for complete payment deferment (including payment of principal, interest and fees) for not less than six (6) months and not more than one (1) year.

Section 1106 of the CARES Act provides that the principal balance of a loan obtained under the Paycheck Protection Program is forgivable in full, provided that the loan is used to pay for business continuity expenses, including: payroll (wages, health insurance, sick leave, retirement, and other benefits), mortgage interest expenses, rent expenses, and utility expenses. However, the total amount of the principal balance that is forgiven will be reduced if an employer lays off employees who are not subsequently rehired or reduces compensation to employees by more than twenty-five percent (25%) during the covered period (March 1, 2020, through June 30, 2020).

The SBA recently updated its website to include information regarding Paycheck Protection Program loans, including a sample application form.

If you have any questions regarding this topic, please contact Lin Law LLC at (920) 393-1190.