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.
Enforcement of Mental Health Parity Regulations Suspended: Takeaways for Plan Sponsors and Health Insurance Issuers
By Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on May 22, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
Enforcement of the 2024 final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) has been suspended due to litigation by The ERISA Industry Committee. In response, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury announced that they will not enforce the new rule until the case is resolved, plus...
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5 Trends in Health Plan Regulations to Watch in New Trump Administration
By Sarah Raaii and Alden Bianchi on May 8, 2025
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
With a new presidential administration, the changing regulatory landscape regarding health benefits – often, the second-largest expense for a business after salaries – has been top of mind for HR executives. Much of the early commentary focused on contested “red state/blue state” issues, such as gender-affirming care. The president’s ever-growing list of executive orders now...
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PBMs Score a Win in Federal Court Against State Regulation
By Alden Bianchi and Sarah Raaii on Apr 25, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A recent federal court decision in McKee Foods Corp. v. BFP Inc. declared that Tennessee’s “any willing pharmacy” requirement was preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. This decision impacts self-funded group health plans, potentially allowing them to comply with a single set of rules nationwide rather than navigating conflicting state...
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How PPM Health Plans Can Solve the MEWA Problem
By Sarah Raaii, Alden Bianchi, Erin Turley, Teal Trujillo and Allison Wilkerson on Mar 6, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A physician practice management (PPM) structure can help ensure compliance with corporate practice of medicine laws and simplify administrative tasks. However, it can also unintentionally lead to health plan issues that need to be carefully managed to prevent compliance problems or complications when selling PPM entities. Read more here.
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Examining Group Health Coverage Alternatives for Small Employers
By Alden Bianchi, Sarah Raaii, Teal Trujillo and Erin Turley on Feb 27, 2025
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Small employers have long struggled to offer comprehensive major medical coverage to their workers and families, mainly due to underwriting hurdles. Groups with fewer than 50 employees are often confined to state small group market plans, which can be costly. Even slightly larger groups, underwritten based on their own claims history, still face a significant...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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)...
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