Steve Jett
Russ Blakely and Associates (RBA), an area employee benefits consulting firm, has hired a compliance officer to join its staff of benefits advisory professionals. Attorney Steve Jett joined the firm on April 1, and will be located primarily in the Chattanooga office.
Mr. Jett also joins his son, Austin Jett, who is an Employee Benefits advisor with the firm.
As health care reform continues to develop, employers are finding that they have to meet an ever-increasing compliance and regulatory burden under the law, including increased documentation, tracking, and reporting to the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“Under PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), employers today have more benefits compliance responsibility than they did in the past, and can expect the load, and the enforcement, to increase even more in the future,” said RBA president Russ Blakely.
Mr. Jett, who practiced with Chambliss, Bahner, and Stophel for 40 years, was recently named 2015 Best Lawyers in America “Chattanooga Health Care Law Lawyer of the Year”. His primary responsibilities at RBA include consulting with RBA clients on their benefits plans, as well as their compliance requirements and processes.
“Employers are always looking to control costs while providing the best benefits possible to their employees,” said Brent Wick, Employee Benefits advisor at RBA. “But now with Healthcare Reform, they have to think a lot more about keeping the tires between the lines of the law. We just want to be sure that all clients will be prepared should the IRS and DOL come knocking for a benefits plan audit.”
At the Chambliss Law Firm, Jett’s practice focused on corporate and transactional work, with an emphasis on the healthcare, software, and manufacturing industries. His healthcare practice focused on representing care providers in regulatory and business matters.
For more information, contact Kathy Petty at kathy@rbabenefits.com or 423 266-8306.