EKRA compensation W2

Is anyone still getting paid a base salary? Plus, a commission ? or have all of us gone over to full salary? No commission based on per specimen any longer. With the change i now make less. Everything i have read. Including all the large law firms. All seem to agree that anyone who gets paid per specimen. Whether they are W2 or 1099 risk falling into the EKRA net and face potential prosecution? Fines or both. The first first cases are starting to make their way through the courts now it seems.

Can other reps confirm? or deny any changes to their compensation plans.

 

Last year made over 160K as a independent contractor with one lab. Was offered a salary plus EKRA compliant bonus structure Jan 1, 2020. At the same business volume as last year it would come out to 85k for this year.

BULLSHIT

 

Same boat. Time to hit the job market.

 

You can still be paid based on a flat commission monthly, no?

 

You can either be paid a flat rate amount each month or be a W-2 salary employee but you cannot be paid any commission that varies with the number of specimens or the amount being billed or collected. Some people have talked themselves into thinking a bonus paid every quarter is somehow ok and it isn't if it is based on those same factors. The EKRA lawy didn't say if you were getting a salary it was ok to pay a bonus or commission. There can not be ANY compensation that is based on the number of specimens or the amount billed or collected by the lab.

 

Thanks for the clarification Tom I.

 

This is no longer true. Soon it will only apply to 1099 employees. W2 employees will once again be allowed to collect salary and commission based on sales.

 

Legislation is moving through Congress to put a W2 exemption in to EKRA. Congress wants to outlaw 1099 reps as they have seen too many AKS violations from the 1099's. The party is over!

 

that would be the best of both worlds

 

Anyone on here looking for a Midwest rep?
I've recently parted ways with my previous lab and I'm looking potentially for a new one.

Mac50702@yahoo.com

 

Your statement contradict one another. First you say it is no longer true and then you say "Soon" it will only apply to 1099.

Your first statement about this not being true is wrong. You might be right about the law being changed in the near future however there is still a lot of debate taking place as to the wording of the changes and they may still make it illegal even if you are a W2 employee.

Afterall it would be easy to pay someone a very small salary with them having to earn 95% of the money by a commission. For example, they could pay you $1,000 a month and pay commission and you would still be a W2 employee.

That would not be much different that being a 1099. Hell for that matter you can be a W2 and still not be full time which means that a lab would not have to provide health benefits.

It is for these reasons you cannot say that soon it will be legal to pay a commission if you are a W2 employee. Who knows when the changes will occur as they might be in a few months or it could be years away and even if they make changes who knows what the actual verbiage will be.

 

The bill is written already. Rubio is on board. The change will make an exemption for only W2 employees of labs. If you want to know how I know it is called listening to your lobbyist organization!

 

I have been too and just because you claim Rubio is on board as written does not mean that it will be approved as you think it will and there is no telling exactly when it will be approved.

I also want to point out that any lab could pay you a very low salary making you a W2 and still have 95% of your pay as a commission. Your hangup is you think 1099 reps have ruined the industry.

If a lab hires a rep as a W2 but with a tiny salary with the remaining compensation as a bonus or commission that is determined by profit how is that really any different that being a 1099 before EKRA?
The answer is there is no real difference and everything goes back almost to the way it was before.

 

So how are reps paid currently and when will the new law go into effect

 

This person is right. Fraud is not caused by a particular compensation structure.
If a person or a company seeks to fraudulently take money from a government or third party payer or even a cash paying patient - that can be done with an employer/employee arrangement or with contractors. If an investigation ever ensues, the specific intent of all parties is what will most likely be considered.
It is simply that some very significant cases of fraud have occurred where contractors were involved - and it is so difficult to lay blame in all the places it needs to be when the employer does not have control of and liability for all of the acts that might be uncovered. Much simpler when the prosecutors can channel all of the resources into holding one large entity wholly responsible.

 

Labs aren't stupid. Reps can be paid on bonus structures, minus using specimen counts. They will pay you like they do in other types of sales. It's called a draw. It has nothing to do with commissions. You're simply paid upon your account values. EKRA can't tell labs how to compensate employees. If a job wants to increase a salary/draw, they're free to do so. That's how they will continue paying their reps for their success.

 

If a bill is written then it must pass. I mean, why'd they write it? if it wasn't going to pass? Common we all know bills don't die.... I'll believe it when it's passed. I'm sure it's not on the top of his todo list and last I checked. He's not exactly a majority whip among the GOP.

 

Majority leader rather.

 

What are you smoking? LOL JK
Seriously, I want to know how you think a lab would "Value" an account if it isn't related to the profits they would make. If they are not putting a value on profits then I will show you a lab that is not going to stay in business. The problem is that the rep has to trust the lab because you can't put in writing ahead of time that the lab will place a value on each account because every account is unique and different.

For example a "1" physician office that does 2-3 tox specimens per week and nothing else is worth a lot less value to a lab than an office doing 5-10 CGX personal history tests per week. You try explaining to a prosecutor that your value is not related to the amount being collected or billed and see how well they believe you. I bet the correlation between the two would be pretty damn close.

Of course they can increase the reps salary but it is a slippery slope until they correct the wording in the EKRA law.

 

Exactly right. Pretty simple process to compensate your better reps more.