From: Tom Sinclair [mailto:tsinclair@sinclairlawfirm.com] 

Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 5:45 PM

To: EBSA, E-ORI - EBSA

Subject: RIN 1210-AB39 Comments

Dear Sir/Madam;

After careful and thoughtful consideration, the Department of Labor 

provided much needed guidance to Plan Participants and Small 

Businesses/Plan Sponsors via the important and long overdue revisions to 

the claims regulations set to go into effect in a few months. I have personal 

knowledge of the effect these regulations would have through my 

extensive representation of people seeking their benefits with the support 

of the employers.

When a Small Business Owner / Job Creator has a hard-working employee 

who needs their benefits the employers want those benefits provided and 

need the process of providing those benefits, to be as smooth as 

possible. Governmental Regulation that creates transparency in that 

process and keeps the burden off small businesses is critical. Employers 

should not have to deal with the effect of benefit denials and employ entire 

departments to help explain the process to employees. The Department’s 

revisions provided critical resolution to many issues and would keep 

employers from having to deal with these burdens. 

These revisions created much needed transparency in the claims process 

presently paid for by tens of thousands of Small Businesses Owners / Job 

Creators across our country. The revisions would also alleviate litigation 

costs for employers by avoiding the need for litigation over many issues 

being resolved by these revisions. No more would Employers / Plan 

Sponsors have to pay attorney’s fees to litigate the questions answered by 

these revisions.

It appears these critically needed revisions have been put on hold at the 

eleventh hour, after the close of the comment period and after hundreds of 

timely comments from across the spectrum of interested parties. Review of 

the stated reasons for this delay reveal the true and improper purpose: the 

“stakeholders” at the heart of this delay are Hourly Billing Law Firms and 
Lobbyists concerned about a loss of revenue that may come from the 

transparency these revisions provide. 

At present Small Business / Employers / Plan Sponsors / JOB CREATORS 

across the country are:

1. Paying premiums to fund these benefits;

2. Paying employees to answer other employees’ questions about the 

benefit claim process;

3. Paying hourly billing attorneys to stand side by side with insurance 

companies who want to litigate issues such as those set out above so 

the insurance carrier can avoid paying benefit claims;

4. Paying for a delay in the enforcement of these revisions;

5. Paying governmental employees to reopen the closed comment 

period; and 

6. Potentially Paying other government employees for untold hours 

that would be expended in a secretive additional administrative 

review process whose terms would be dictated by other hourly 

billing lawyers and lobbyists.

As an experienced benefits litigator who has had to explain the current 

burdens to hundreds of small business owners across the country- the

revisions take the burdens OFF THE BACKS OF SMALL BUSINESS 

OWNERS. These regulations helped Small Business. 

Free these Revisions.

Ignore the Lobbyists and Hourly Defense Lawyers.

Thomas O. Sinclair, Esq.

2100A SouthBridge Parkway

Suite 336

Birmingham, AL 35209

Ph. 205.868.0818

Fax 205.868.0894