Mintz Levin Attorney Alden Bianchi Testifies On Health Care Reform Before United States Senate
10/25/2007
Experienced Compensation/Benefits Attorney Testifies at Hearing on Small Business Health Insurance: Building a Gateway to Coverage
Boston, MA - October 25, 2007 - Alden Bianchi, the practice group leader of Mintz Levin's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice and a member in the firm's Employment, Labor and Benefits Section, testified today before the United States Senate Committee on Finance as part of a hearing on health care reform and the availability of health insurance coverage.
Mr. Bianchi, presented an overview and comparative analysis of single-payer and market-based health care reform mechanisms.
During his testimony, Mr. Bianchi explained that the rising costs of health care coverage and the growing ranks of the uninsured are prompting both federal and state lawmakers to provide or assist with new solutions to make coverage more available and that to do so, existing regulatory structures need to be significantly adjusted or entirely replaced. He compared the government-run, "single payer" approach, which resembles a vastly expanded, traditional Medicare program with the market-based approach, which relies on existing, private sector insurance companies to provide coverage. Mr. Bianchi stated that it appears that support for the single-payer system has not reached a critical mass, where market-based reform proposals have.
He went on to identify several successful features of market-based reform in Massachusetts, some of which are new uses of earlier concepts and some of which are brand new. They include:
- A State-Based, or Multi-State, Health Insurance Connector - provides eligible individuals and small groups access to affordable health insurance products
- Small-Group Insurance Reform - the merger of the non-group and small-group health insurance markets
- Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Mandates - permits employees to make pre-tax contributions under employer-sponsored group health plans
- Tax Funding Mechanisms - Limits on Employer Exclusion, Refundable Tax Credits, etc.- ensures that an individual is eligible for the credit even if he or she owes little or no taxes
- The Individual Mandate - states that all residents of the Commonwealth must obtain and maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage
Mr. Bianchi's full testimony can be read at:
http://www.senate.gov/~finance/sitepages/hearing102507.htm
Mr. Bianchi advises corporate, not-for-profit, governmental and individual clients on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits issues, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, stock and stock-based compensation arrangements, ERISA fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues, benefit-related aspects of mergers and acquisitions, and health and welfare plans. He represented the Romney administration in connection with the ground-breaking Massachusetts health care reform act, and he currently advises the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority, the state agency established to facilitate the purchase of affordable health insurance by individuals and small groups. He is also currently advising a handful of other states with respect to health reform issues.
Mr. Bianchi has written and lectured extensively on employee benefits issues. He is the author of three books, Employee Benefits for the Contingent Workforce and Plan Disqualification and ERISA Litigation (both published by Tax Management, Inc.), and Benefits Compliance (published by World-at-Work), and over 50 benefits-related articles. He has also published a comprehensive summary of the Massachusetts health care reform act, entitled An Employer's Guide to the 2006 Health Care Reform Act. His speaking engagements include presentations to the ALI-ABA, American Bar Association, American Insurance Group, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Smith Barney, UBS, ING Financial Services and the Risk Insurance Management Society, as well as a host of bar groups and professional, educational and civic organizations.
Mr. Bianchi is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Suffolk and Georgetown Law Schools, and he holds an LL.M. in taxation from the Boston University Law School. He is listed in Woodward & White's The Best Lawyers in America, and Marquis' Who's Who in American Law, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.
Mintz Levin's Employment, Labor and Employee Benefits attorneys are joined together as one group to provide clients with a consolidated approach to human resources issues. The firm assists clients in meeting their business goals while minimizing employee-related conflicts. They provide clients with informed advice on the most recent developments in the law and current trends in employment and compensation practices. By working together, they bring diverse capabilities to assist clients in recruiting and retaining the best workforce. The advice they provide, employment systems they develop and the training programs they implement reflect the most recent court challenges and decisions, enabling them to assist clients in anticipating and better preparing for the constantly changing employment law landscape. Mintz Levin's clients represent a broad cross-section of the community, encompassing a spectrum of industries including manufacturing, retail, high technology, biotechnology, health care, education, hospitality, finance, construction, agriculture and professional.
Mintz Levin is an AmLaw 100 law firm with offices in the US and the UK. The firm has exceptional depth in a broad range of practice areas, but our clients recognize that what sets us apart from other law firms is our industry focus. By truly understanding business drivers and industry trends, we are able to provide our clients with more than just legal advice; we provide legal solutions to our clients' business issues. Since 1933, our lawyers have represented entrepreneurs, emerging growth companies, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations and leaders in primary industries that include Life Sciences/Biotechnology; Technology & Communications; Energy & Clean Technology; Financial Services & Insurance; Healthcare; Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction; and Retail & Consumer Products. Our practical knowledge combined with our industry expertise enables us to provide our clients with enterprise legal advice that gives their business a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
