Alden Bianchi
Subscribe to Alden Bianchi's PostsAlden 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.
Plan Sponsors, Insurers, and the Landmark Mental Health Parity Final Rule
By Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Sep 19, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services recently issued much-anticipated final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The newly issued final regulations update the 2013 final regulations principally to reflect the changes to MHPAEA enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which requires plans and...
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The Case for the Welfare Plan Fiduciary Committee
By Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Aug 13, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Recent lawsuits filed 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. Establishing such committees can help employers reduce litigation risk and ensure compliance with Employee Retirement Income...
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Anticipating the MHPAEA Final Regulations: A Word About Network Composition
By Alden Bianchi on Aug 6, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
If our trade and industry sources have it right, we could see final regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), as most recently amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), any day now. Last week, we offered a wish list of things we would like to see modified or addressed...
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Six Wishes for the Forthcoming Final Regulations Under MHPAEA
By Alden Bianchi on Jul 30, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
On July 1, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) submitted final regulations to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) as most recently amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The CAA added a requirement that plans and issuers perform and document comparative analyses of...
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From ERISA to CAA: How Have Employers’ Fiduciary Responsibilities Changed Over Time?
By Sarah Raaii and Alden Bianchi on Jul 23, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Health plan fiduciary issues have taken on increased urgency following a new wave of Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action lawsuits filed by plaintiffs’ firms. Sarah Raaii and Alden Bianchi recently joined the Moving to Value Alliance, a healthcare nonprofit, for a podcast episode focused on how group health plan sponsors and third-party service...
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It’s the Plan Assets, Stupid: Why Group Medical Stop-Loss Captives and Level-Funded Plans Don’t Mix
By Alden Bianchi on Jun 27, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A question in response to last week’s post on self-funding of employer group health plans assumed that stop-loss coverage under a level-funded plan could be provided under a group captive medical captive. However, it cannot (at least not without first obtaining a prohibited transaction exemption from the US Department of Labor (DOL)). While group medical...
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Group Medical Captives, Level Funding and US Healthcare Policy
By Alden Bianchi on Jun 18, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
In a recent article in Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein examines the trend of self-funding of group health benefits by smaller employers who used to depend mainly or entirely on fully insured programs. The shift to self-funding, the article explains, is grounded in the Employee Retirement Income Security (ERISA), which exempts self-funded plans from state...
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The Impact of the ACA 1557 Final Regulations on Pregnancy and Abortion
By Alden Bianchi on Jun 6, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is receiving federal financial assistance. On May 6, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for...
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HHS Final Section 1557 Nondiscrimination Regulations: Gender-Affirming Care and the Role of Carriers Under ASO Arrangements
By Sarah Raaii, Alden Bianchi and Scott Kenkel on Jun 5, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On April 26, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule (press release, fact sheet, FAQs) reinterpreting Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which...
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The Impact of the ACA 1557 Final Regulations on Gender-Affirming Care
By Alden Bianchi on May 30, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is receiving federal financial assistance. On May 6, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for...
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