I'm not reading other people's opinions about yesterday's U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts where Republican Scott Brown beat Democrat Martha Coakley. It will just make me angry, I'm sure. I need to focus on things I can change...things I need to do for myself. But I will offer some observations about how understandable this vote was in the context of health care reform...

I attended the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce annual meeting this morning where Jim Roosevelt, Tufts Health Plan CEO spoke about the challenges of health care reform. He's also a leader in the Democratic effort to make changes to the health care system. I believe his heart is in the right place, but does anyone else see a problem with having the head of a Health Plan leading reform??

Tufts is a "good" plan--it is the insurance I have and I can think of a lot worse. Roosevelt made the point that the main cost driver in health care is the unit cost of services--and that it is all passing through Tufts which has low administrative costs and minimal profit. He even gave an illustrative example of one of his staff showing him a statement of benefits and being appalled at the costs that are normally hidden from individuals. I've seen those bills too and they anger me and convince me that this system is a corrupt enterprise. But I come to a far different conclusion about the remedy.

Roosevelt informed the crowd that legislation had been filed to create something in Massachusetts that would help small businesses and indviduals by creating an affordable health plan option that would save as much as 22% and offer a level of service comparable to the "Bronze" level plans of the Massachusetts Health Connector. Thanks for the scraps. So you are telling me that after revolutionary change in our country...after all this hard work, I will be able to purchase lame health insurance for $800/month instead of $1000?

Let's go back to that statement of benefits. Why does some drug cost $3600? Why does the time it takes a nurse to hook up someone to an IV cost $250? Why, if I don't have health insurance, does the same bill come to me with dramatically inflated prices? Honestly, I'm tired of asking why or even caring. We need to reduce these costs.

Instead, what is happening is the government is trying to provide health insurance to all and then distribute the additional costs to the rest of us. Since most people get their insurance through an employer, this translates into crippling taxes on small businesses. OF COURSE THEY OPPOSE THIS KIND OF REFORM! That is like telling me, hey, we did it! Now, homeless people in Boston have free health insurance and your premium went up to $1200 a month. That is not what I ever wanted from health care reform. I should not have been paying $1000 in the first place!

I want someone to figure out how to provide a basic level of care to all Americans for something like $400/month. That's an arbitrary number, but my point is that this idea of saving 20% is about as credible as a Macy's sale where every item in the store is constantly on sale and no idiot would ever pay full price. What do we need to change to lower the costs?

The Democrats have convinced themselves--as I did yesterday before I grudgingly cast my vote for Martha Coakley--that any reform is better than no reform. We recognize the reality is that while Republicans talk about reform and cost-cutting, the real agenda is simply to kill reform so everyone can heave a big sigh of relief and get on with the business of making lots of money for insurance companies and "big pharma."

Small business owners are caught between a rock and a hard place. Whose bullshit do you believe? It's not that hard when one candidate is trying to sell you a bill of goods and the other is calling her out on it.

People feel anger and frustration when they realize what is really happening: that compromise is purchased in back room deals, and scraps of mitigation are doled out to special interest groups while life goes on in a fundamentally corrupt system. It is enough to push people into a rejection of that representation and, unfortunately, a rejection of the whole reform process.

What are we left with? Well, perhaps we are left with a Senator who will cause this process to be rebooted. Perhaps he will represent small businesses who say $800/month instead of $1000 is no bargain for me! Certainly the pain of rising health care costs for business will not go away.

So, to be clear, I DON'T think we had a case of Mass. Insanity yesterday. Pushed into a corner, people made a choice they could believe in, rather than accepting that they had to vote for Martha Coakley or it would be the end of the world. Today is a new day and after all the pundits get done pontificating about realignment and the impact on Obama, maybe someone will start asking more fundamental questions about this corrupt system. So instead of asking what if or even why, I guess the real question is what next?

A number of people who are unemployed in Massachusetts and have lost their benefits due to situations with part-time employment, freelance income, and problems accepting or refusing employment have commented on my blog or sent me emails asking for help. I made some calls today and decided to post some information here in the hope that it can help...

Disclaimer: I have not gone through this process myself (and hope I will never have to) and I do not have personal knowledge of the facts involved in any individual case. I am not representing anyone as an attorney; just reporting what I understand the process to be. If you know better...please comment appropriately and help everyone...

The most important thing you can do if you believe your benefits are being wrongly denied is to continue to file your weekly claim by phone or online. If you don't file those weekly claims, even if the original denial is reversed, you will not be able to collect benefits retroactively.

When your benefits are canceled or denied, you should receive a letter informing you of this decision and your right to request a hearing. I get the impression that some people are told on the phone that they no longer qualify for benefits and then they just give up. Don't do that. If you receive this letter, it should include instructions on how to request a hearing which initiates the process described on the DUA web site.

Make your appeal timely--you have 10 days from the original letter to contest the determination.

If you do not receive a letter, you can contact the Adjustment Unit of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Unimployment Assurance to state your claim and request a hearing. These hearings can take weeks or months to schedule, during which time you should keep filing your weekly claim.

Write a letter, identifying yourself, including your Social Security Number and any case/claim number information you have, and stating that you would like to request a review of your eligibility for benefits. State the facts about your claim--when did you file, what conversations did you have on the phone, what the current status of your benefits are as you understand them... It is best to state the procedural facts clearly and unemotionally to make it clear what you are asking for and what actions have been taken by DUA up to this point. Then, you can describe your circumstances--why you did what you were told disqualified you.

The purpose of this letter is to get a hearing, not to win your case outright. So don't tell them your life story and don't provide extraneous facts about your employment or other information that they don't know about that might raise additional issues!

For example, if you were told that because you quit a job, you can no longer claim benefits, you should say something like this: "The Tele-Claim representative told me that because I had stopped working as a dishwasher, I was no longer eligible to file for weekly benefits. I stopped filing my weekly claim but never received any formal notice of this decision." As you relate the facts, focus on "what" happened, not what you believe, think, feel, desire or wish. Then, request a review very explicity by saying, "I would like you to review my denial of benefits and give me an opportunity to appeal the decision." Then, you go into the consequences: "Based on what I was told, I stopped filing weekly claims. I was never fully employed and [rest of story.]

That's just my advice on writing a persuasive letter--obviously eveyone has their own situation, but the important thing is to lay out the procedural facts as accurately as possible and ask for an opportunity to provide additional information to help them make a more accurate determination of your status.

Send this letter to:

Adjustment Unit, DUA
Department of Workforce Development
Charles F. Hurley Building
19 Staniford Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02114 

Then wait. Unfortunately, there is a backlog and it could be 6-8 weeks before you hear anything. However, after 3 weeks, you can call the Hearings Department at 617-626-5200 to verify that the case has been opened/entered into the system, at which point you would receive a docket number that can be used to check status on the phone.

Don't give up. If I were in the situation described by some of the people who have contacted me, I would send a letter and start filing my weekly claim immediately AND argue that my failure to file previous weeks was not my fault because I was told to stop claiming. If the online form will not allow you to file a weekly claim...call the Tele-Claim center at 617-626-6338. If that person says "you're not eligible," then you should say "I am filing an appeal and want to certify that for this week, I was available for work, looked for work, and did not earn any money."

Pace yourself. You still need to find a job, but these benefits--if you deserve them--might be the difference between digging out of debt for years after you find work. So:

1. write that letter and mail it
2. do your weekly claim - keep the work search log going too so you have documentation of your efforts to find a job and you don't create another problem
3. wait 3 weeks, then call the Hearing Department at DUA to verify the hearing process is initiated. If it is not...hopefully they can help you on the phone to know what to do next.
4. go to the hearing and make your case

If the hearing results in an adverse judgment...you have the right to appeal the hearing as well.

As with any bureaucratic process, it would be nice if someone told you all this up front...or if someone acted as your advocate/guide/counsellor along the way. But that's not how it works, so live, learn, and share.

Comment spammers are relentless. I have not posted to DaveWrites recently, but I spend time every day just deleting the comments that make it through Akismet and other spam filters.

I believe the spam-filtering service Akismet defeats most automated spam, but I suspect there is a class of low-wage human-powered spamming going on based on some internet marketer's idea of link building.

The reason some people post short comments like "Nice job. Keep up good work." or "Good information, thanks for the post!" is because the comment form gives them the opportunity to link to another web site. That link becomes a part of my blog because it is published with the comment. This a legitmate way to build connections between bloggers. When I comment on someone else's blog that has much more traffic than mine, I hope that people will check out my site to see what else I'm writing.

But the reason spammers comment on blogs is to improve search engine rankings. Links from blogs to web sites increase the ranking of those sites, because search engines believe sites with many inbound links are more authoritative and creditable. So a business might pay a marketing firm to go out and comment on all the blogs they can find. Then, they report back to the company: "we've generated 100 inbound links for you!"

The sad thing about such an approach--apart from my annoyance at these bozos--is that it is a fraudulent scam on the companies who are paying the "internet marketing firm." Read Google's opinion of comment spam on their blog. The message from Google is clear:

• it does not work; they will detect it and ignore it
• it can hurt you; they will penalize sites that use it

My simplistic description of how inbound links affect search engine ranking is NOT very accurate. Google has spent the last decade refining their algorithms for ranking sites. So it is not as simple as getting some links.

None of this is new. I've been deleting comments like this for years, and I try to avoid even thinking about it because it is a distraction from working on something that might actually generate some revenue for my business. But I think all bloggers should review Google's recommendations on how to fight comment spam just to make sure they are not just hitting the snooze button every day for years. Let's walk through Google's recommendations with some real world practical commentary...

I think the CAPTCHA and Akismet approaches are the most worthwhile to pursue. Many of us set up our sites years ago and it's worth a review of the technologies available to update our sites to make sure we are minimizing the amount of predictible spam, then, just delete those bogus comments that slip through.

This post turned into more than a few minutes diversion...feel free to submit your own comments and links to practical ways to fight spam. I'm sure this post will itself create a moderation challenge for me. :)

I realized the other day that my Dad was only 39 years old when he lost his "stable" job as a mechanical piping designer at Newport News Shipbuilding. It was April 1, 1977; we had just purchased our first "brand new" car--a Honda Accord--and then the union decided to strike. It was a long summer...and ultimately, the union was broken and the strike was never settled.

It was a difficult time for my parents. I was only 10 years old, but I recall that my Dad was unemployed for what seemed an eternity. He received some money from the union for picketing, and I remember him going out to stand on the picket lines of a strike that went largely unnoticed as the shipyard replaced the designers and draftsmen. He took a welding class and then worked nights in the Union Camp paper mill--bringing home the unforgettable "aroma" I would recall years later as I attended law school in Tacoma, WA. He made money on the weekends using his home-built stump-grinding machine, and eventually found an engineering job again--but commuting 90-miles each day to Richmond.

I wonder what our kids will remember as my family embarks on a very different journey in 2010? I hope we will look back upon 2009 as a transitional year and 2010 as the time when we began to really establish our future. The circumstances are very different in many ways for us...but it is a surprise to consider, to recognize all these years later that my parents once stood in similar shoes and must have felt similar things about the challenges of navigating the future.

I digress mightily in this blog that has fallen rather silent lately...but I know big things are coming. The "plan" will be better drawn from the perspective of future history.

As I have formalized my business organization, I learned a few things I am going to share here--sort of a corollary to my popular post on What I've Learned about Unemployment in Massachusetts.

But First Things First

Until you are seriously committed to starting a business, you don't need to do anything more than find clients with work to do and make sure you get the work done on time. Thinking about tax issues and forming a corporation or LLC...even doing a business plan, spreadsheet, etc.--these are all distracting time-wasters that get in the way of generating that first bit of revenue. As a sole proprietor, working out of your home or a coffeehouse, the first step in forming a business is to get a client.

When you contract with your first client, rather than worry about whether you have formed an LLC yet or obtained a DBA certificate from the Town Clerk...just make sure you have a signed proposal that states the work you will do, how much you will be paid, and which includes a limitation on your liability such as:

CLAIMS. All claims for defective or incomplete Services must be made in writing fully setting forth the nature of the alleged defect or damage, within thirty (30) days from the date of the invoice. CLIENT’s failure to so notify PROVIDER shall constitute acceptance of the Services. PROVIDER’s liability is limited to the total cost of services invoiced.

Then, do the work. Do it well. Repeat.

When I started Dave Atkins Media a year ago, this was the rule I set for myself because I knew that as someone with legal training and curiosity about everything...I would quickly get lost in the fascinating details of things that mostly don't matter. For accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes--use excel. Use a single worksheet of date, revenue, expense, description to start. Don't run out and buy Quickbooks yet.

I also used Freshbooks--an online invoicing and time tracking system--to record my hours and expenses--then, each week, I would generate a report which gave me earnings - expenses = the amount I reported as freelance income for unemployment claims.

Ready for Prime Time
I reached a point where I decided to go "all in." It would be nice if that point had been precipitated by a steady stream of cash flows and the growing realization that my business was taking off--but it didn't work like that. I just decided that I needed to get out of my house and separate the business from my personal finances. I decided that whatever I built, it was going to be much bigger than just some temporary hourly contract work thing that I did until the next job came along. I think, for me it coalesced around the finding of an office space in the center of town with the opportunity to post a sign.

Choose the Form of Business
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has some guidance online: Forming a Business, Step by Step. It's a good starting point, but it is easy to get lost in the details.

I chose an S-corporation as my business form. I started to write about why here, but then I found a blog in California that covers it pretty well. His decisions are influenced by the particulars of California law, but the Federal tax issues are the most significant to consider.

To form an S-Corporation:

Note: Your tax year will be January-December for all things. No Fiscal Year treatment for S-Corporations in Massachusetts.

Go to the Secretary of State's Corporate database search and make sure the name of your company is not already taken. More info here.

Obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). You will fill out an online form and get an ID number immediately.

Use the online filing system at the Secretary of State's website to create your Articles of Incorporation. Some key "hints":

• specify 275,000 shares of undesignated stock. That is the maximum amount. If you want to change this later...$100 fee to file and $100/100K additional shares authorized.
• specify 1/1/2010 as the effective date of organization. Do NOT make the mistake of forming a corporation in November or December if you can postpone to January. This will save you $456 in minimum corporate excise tax you would otherwise pay in March 2010 for the first partial year.
• One person can serve as President, Secretary, Treasurer and Director. It looks silly, but if you are a sole incorporator, this is what you do.
• Submit the form and pay with your credit card.

There are two forms you must file with the IRS to elect S-corporation status. Go to the IRS website to download the forms in instructions for:

• Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation
• Entity Classification Election ("check the box form")

The paperwork is far from over, but you are now a corporation. You will need to draft and file additional documents including your bylaws and minutes from an initial meeting (with yourself!). I'll blog about that separately...but it is critical that you follow the rules and keep up with the formalities/requirements.

Note: Obviously, this post is "dated"--see my thoughts on the subsequent election of Republican Scott Brown...

Massachusetts will choose a Senator in two weeks. I hope that choice will be Alan Khazei. Technically, it is a primary election, but given that we have 4 qualified Democrats, I can't see how a Republican could pull any kind of surprise upset. So the reality is that the primary is the election.

We have a rare opportunity to choose someone who will make a difference.

The front-running candidates have established impressive records of public service. They have served the Commonwealth and their constituents well, standing up for what they believe in and protecting the interests of those they serve. But we should look for a little more and perhaps a little less.

Alan Khazei started City Year. He is a social entrepreneur and a person who knows how to inspire others to achieve. Electing this type of leader is like electing thousands of people who together can make a difference. It is casting a vote for the optimistic belief that everyone has something to contribute. That is the "more" I find missing from the other candidates.

The "less" is that Alan doesn't have much of a political resume. He can't tell us how he fought for this and that and stood up to the bad people or whatever. I'm tired of hearing those lines from candidates anyway...the reality is that there are so few situations in life where a person truly has the individual power to stand up and truly make a public stand that matters. Most who do, do it quietly and anonymously.

The real heroes in our world are the ordinary people who do the right thing because they believe in themselves and in a greater purpose. Alan's message--and his life's work--has been to encourage and support others to believe in themselves and find ways to make small differences in the world. That's more important than having the right position on health care or knowing how to work the system so you can orchestrate outcomes.

Perhpas Ted Kenneday had it all...but he had a powerful family and 50 years to develop his role and influence. The other candidates in this race will start as junior Senators...they cannot assume that mantle of leadership and so I think a different approach is necessary.

We need to take this perhaps once in a lifetime opportunity to send someone to Washington who will lead through empowerment...who will seek out like-minded, visionary voices of positive change and continue his work to encourage all citizens to recognize their potential. There is no argument that Alan can't win...and therfore no reason to throw away a vote on Coakley or Capuano.

I don't know Alan personally and I wasn't even sure how to pronounce his name at first. But when I looked at what he had to say and researched what he has actually done, I could recognize the pattern almost instantly. Most people in government, unfortunately, don't carry that infectious faith in human nature. They can be great leaders--not necessarily cynics--but there is a difference when a leader genuinely accepts the idea that everyone has something to offer and the greatest service he or she can provide is to help others to believe in the concept of public service.

And he has a sense of humor!

At the end of last year, as I started Dave Atkins Media!, I made a conscious decision to limit my "organizational activities" to avoid being sidetracked into non-productive activity. I spent about 2 hours making a website and elected to operate as a sole proprietorship with an excel spreadsheet as my general ledger. I used Freshbooks online invoicing to track my hours and bill my clients. Then, I landed the contract job at Mass.Gov and dove into that...

I'm going down to Needham Bank this morning to open a business account. Then I will turn in my d/b/a certificate at town hall, apply for an occupancy permit from the building department, apply for a sign permit to go on the front of my office space at 291 Washington Street, then get to work drawing up my articles of incorporation. What's different?

I will provide more details here, but basically, I'm more serious about this now. I have less time to talk about it and more time to do.

And yes...that website needs some work. I know where it needs to go now though...

I'm excited that our Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee was able to work with our town to secure almost $3700 in reimbursement funding to buy bike racks. And our monthly meetings are defintitely raising awareness about Pedestrian and Bike Safety issues and beginning to build a coalition of people in town who share a desire to make improvements. But it is really inspiring to read this story of how a group in California, over the course of a year, obtained $800,000 in grant money to improve sidewalks in their neighborhood.

It can happen, even in difficult economic times. We confront a budget crisis here and the likelihood of multiple property tax override campaigns next year. Despite recent good news about the fact that state aid for school funding will not be cut, even "level-funding" of Town departments has become the best we can hope for. The question is not what will be cut, but how much will be cut. Many people are going to oppose those overrides because times are hard for everyone and it's a reasonable case to say, why can't the town just "tighten their belts" like the rest of us...and postpone new expensive projects?

In such an environment, talk of sidewalks and other improvements that cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, faces an impossibility argument--but only if we assume the money has to come from the existing budget. When people are truly behind an idea, they can make it happen.

Tomorrow, our town of Westwood is dedicating a Veterans Memorial park that has been in the works for many years. Originally, Town Meeting approved $25,000 for the park, but it took the efforts of many people over the years to make the project happen. Then, when it became clear that $25,000 was not going to cover the project, the town conducted a brick sale--selling memorial bricks to residents to honor Veterans. Within a few weeks, hundreds of bricks were sold and in total, the Town raised over $45,000 of additional private money.

Figure out what needs to be done first. Get true consensus and involve as many people as possible so the idea is not just a good idea, but something many people want to happen and believe in. Then, find the money and make it so.

It's easy to get sidetracked by negativity. Did you see how $9 million of Federal stimulus funding is being used to construct a footbridge to connect parking lots to Gillete Stadium? That is NOT my idea of walkability--to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize private development of a project nobody asked for? Meanwhile, we need this bridge fixed so people can walk under it from one side of town to the other and not be killed:

Instead of griping about things though, let's think of the question in a more optimistic manner...if Robert Kraft can get $9 million for a parking lot bridge, why CAN'T we get this bridge improved? What can I do to make it happen? Shall I go back to that bridge with a stroller and videotape what it is like to push a baby carriage along under that bridge? Shall we form a neighborhood group to advocate for fixing the bridge? How do we make this thing "shovel ready?" I don't think it would be that hard to light a fire around this issue, but we need other people to step up and a relentless focus on positive solutions...then, we will find the will to make it happen, the consensus to do something that is supported by the entire neighborhood, and the funding to accomplish the impossible.

The fact is, when you are laid off, you can lose your health insurance immediately, despite the so-called protections of COBRA. The only thing COBRA does is entitle certain qualififying persons (most people who are laid off) the opportunity to continue their health insurance under the same group plan they were eligible for when they were employed.

I've blogged here before about how to maintain health insurance while unemployed--essentially, you should 1) elect COBRA immediately because the Federal Stimulus subsidy means you will have at least 65% of the premium covered for 9 months, and 2) apply for the Massachusetts Medial Security Program and other resources which will subsidize an additional 80% of your out of pocket expenses through a reimbursement as long as you remain unemployed and enrolled in the MSP. These are generous benefits that all unemployed, eligible persons should take advantage of immediately.

Immediately is the key word. I thought I understood it all, but the learning process continues as I recently ran into difficulty confirming future doctor's appointments for my kids. I was told my insurance had been canceled immediately upon termination from my last job--before I even received the paperwork for COBRA. This is at the discretion of the employer.

Technically, under COBRA, you have the right to choose whether to elect continuation coverage for 60 days following termination. Then, you have 45 days to make the first payment. In every employer I've worked for in the past, this was explained to laid off employees as "don't worry about health insurance; you have 3 1/2 months before you'll have to pay anything." But it's not that simple. The employer may decided to wait 60 days--during which time they are actually continuing to pay for your health insurance and the insurance company does not even know you have been terminated. But they are not required to be that generous. If instead, they terminate your coverage immediately, then you will lose health insurance on the day you lose your job.

I was advised by my insurer, Tufts, to simply tell the doctor that I've applied for COBRA...hopefully that will be sufficient to enable us to continue receiving medical care until my former employer processes the paperwork of my COBRA election form and reinstates my health coverage. But it illustrates how important it is for you to NOT wait and to IMMEDIATELY make your COBRA election on the day you are laid off. The law only provides you the opportunity to purchase health insurance; it does not automatically provide continuity of coverage. As I've noted before, given the Federal Stimulus benefit, this is a "no-brainer" now, but that benefit will go away in a few months and then, once again, the unemployed will face the very real fear of the immediate loss of health care and difficult choice to being paying over $1000/month--while unemployed--to keep their families covered.