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.
Code § 4980D and Violations of the NQTL Analysis Requirement Under the Proposed MHPAEA Regulations
By Alden Bianchi on Sep 21, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
This post continues our investigation of proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) issued by the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (the Departments). Our previous MHPAEA content is available here. The proposed regulations establish a formal structure for how the Departments will enforce the requirement that...
Continue Reading
The ‘Meaningful Benefit’ Requirement for NQTLs Under the Proposed MHPAEA Regulations
By Alden Bianchi on Sep 13, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
In previous posts, we reported on proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) issued by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments). More recently, we turned our attention to the treatment of non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs), i.e., non-numeric benefit coverage limits that must be no more restrictive...
Continue Reading
Takeaways from a Recent COBRA Notice Class Action Settlement
By J. Christian Nemeth, Alden Bianchi and Joseph Wasserkrug on Sep 12, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
There has been a flurry of class action lawsuits and settlements relating to the deficiency of required election notices under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). The notices provide employees and their beneficiaries who participate in an employer’s group health plan with the option to elect to continue their coverage following a COBRA qualifying...
Continue Reading
The ‘Data Evaluation Requirement’ for NQTLs Under the Newly Proposed MHPAEA Regulations
By Alden Bianchi on Sep 7, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
Last week’s post examined the “no more restrictive” requirement that would apply to non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) set out in recently proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). (Our description of the proposed regulations is available here.) The proposed regulations deal principally with NQTLs, which are non-numeric benefit coverage limits...
Continue Reading
The ‘No More Restrictive’ Requirement for NQTLs Under the Proposed MHPAEA Regulations
By Alden Bianchi on Aug 29, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
We previously reported on proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). If adopted in final form, these regulations would vastly complicate compliance by group health plans and health insurance issuers with an already challenging set of mental health parity rules. The proposed regulations deal principally with non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs),...
Continue Reading
IRS Opines on the Tax Treatment of Employer-Funded, Insured, Fixed-Indemnity Wellness Policies
By Jacob Mattinson, Sarah Raaii, Alden Bianchi and Teal Trujillo on Aug 10, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
In light of recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance, employers should carefully examine any supplemental health plan, program or arrangement (which may or may not claim to leverage fixed indemnity insurance) that promises substantial payroll tax savings. In a legal advice memorandum, the IRS’s Office of Chief Counsel addressed and rejected the claimed tax treatment...
Continue Reading
Treasury, DOL and HHS Issue Landmark Mental Health Parity Proposed Rule
By Alden Bianchi, Sarah Raaii and Jacob Mattinson on Aug 8, 2023
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 (the Departments) recently issued much-anticipated proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) to better ensure that health plans allow access to mental health or substance use disorder benefits as easily as medical or surgical benefits. The proposed regulations...
Continue Reading
Agencies Issue FAQs on Surprise Billing and Cost-Sharing Rules Coordination
By Alden Bianchi on Jul 25, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A recent article by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and National Public Radio (NPR) raised the prospect that patients may still see surprise medical bills despite the enactment of the No Surprises Act (NSA). The article, entitled A Surprise-Billing Law Loophole? Her Pregnancy Led to a Six-Figure Hospital Bill, reports the story of a woman...
Continue Reading
IRS Clarifies Status of Fixed-Indemnity Health Plans Claiming Big Tax Savings
By Alden Bianchi on Jul 20, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) memorandum addresses the tax status of certain fixed-indemnity health plans that promise employers major payroll tax savings. In this American Staffing Association article, Alden J. Bianchi summarizes the memorandum and outlines what employers need to know. Read the article.
Continue Reading
Fixing the ACA’s Family Glitch
By Alden Bianchi and Teal Trujillo on Jul 13, 2023
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The “family glitch” was a regulatory oddity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It required the affordability of an employer-sponsored health plan to be determined based solely on the cost of the plan to an individual employee, disregarding the costs to add family members to a plan. This resulted in many families being ineligible for...
Continue Reading
