Alden Bianchi

Subscribe to Alden Bianchi's Posts

Alden J. Bianchi is an experienced Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation lawyer who advises corporate, not-for-profit, governmental and individual clients on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans. Read Alden Bianchi's full bio.

2025 Employee Benefits & Workplace Predictions

By Alden Bianchi on Jan 30, 2025
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Managing healthcare costs often feels like an endless struggle for benefits professionals, employers, and employees. Nevertheless, benefits professionals persist in their efforts to control escalating healthcare expenses. In this article, Alden Bianchi and industry members share their predictions about the healthcare landscape, zeroing in on primary care, weight loss drug coverage, the Affordable Care Act,...

Continue Reading

Supreme Court’s Transgender Case May Affect Travel Benefits

By Alden Bianchi and Sarah Raaii on Jan 28, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case (US v. Skrmetti) concerning Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth. If the Court upholds the ban, some employers might consider offering travel benefits to help employees access healthcare services that are prohibited by state law. This could also apply to other plan-covered services that are...

Continue Reading

New Rules Simplify ACA Employer Shared Responsibility Reporting Obligations

By Jacob Mattinson, Sarah Raaii and Alden Bianchi on Jan 21, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Two recently passed laws have modified the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that require employers and insurers to prepare tax forms showing offers of health coverage, streamlining the compliance and reporting process. Under the ACA’s employer shared responsibility provisions, applicable large employers must either offer qualifying health coverage to full-time employees (and their...

Continue Reading

Gender-Affirming Benefits: Best Practices for Group Health Plans

By Alden Bianchi, Sarah Raaii and Scott Kenkel on Jan 14, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Gender-affirming care has become a central topic in US political discussions, significantly affecting employer-sponsored group health plans. Depending on whether they purchase insurance or self-fund their health benefits, group health plan sponsors face different challenges in covering gender-affirming care. In this PlanSponsor article, Alden Bianchi, Sarah Raaii, and Scott Kenkel explore these challenges and share...

Continue Reading

Complying With the ‘Relevant Data’ Requirement Under the Final 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act: A Proposal for a Workable Alternative

By Alden Bianchi on Dec 19, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) generally requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as copays and deductibles), quantitative treatment limitations (such as visit limits), and nonquantitative treatment limitations (such as prior authorization and concurrent review) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD)...

Continue Reading

Will the Affordable Care Act Survive a Trump Presidency?

By Alden Bianchi on Nov 26, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Will President-elect Donald Trump seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act once more, or will his administration opt for smaller-scale changes to the law? In this article, Alden Bianchi shares his predictions on the actions the incoming administration and Republicans may consider as they take control of the White House and Congress. Access the article.

Continue Reading

Election 2024: Gender-Affirming Care in the US

By Gregory Fosheim, Sarah Raaii and Alden Bianchi on Oct 29, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

With the US election one week away, what are the legal implications of a Harris-Walz administration versus a Trump-Vance administration regarding gender-affirming care? In this Q&A, Greg Fosheim, Sarah Raaii, and Alden Bianchi discuss how the election’s outcome could affect clients in the employee benefits and healthcare spaces. Read the Q&A here.

Continue Reading

The Case for the Welfare Plan Fiduciary Committee

By Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Oct 22, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Health and Welfare Plans

Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action lawsuits filed earlier this year against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the governance structures employer sponsors of retirement plans routinely adopt. This recent article, published by the...

Continue Reading

2024 Final Mental Health Parity Regulations: First Impressions

By Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Oct 10, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

Alden Bianchi, Jake Mattinson, and Sarah Raaii recently authored an article in ALM Benefits Pro commenting on the final Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) regulations issued last month by the Biden administration. While some of the more objectionable features of the proposed MHPAEA regulations were not finalized, they argue that their basic...

Continue Reading