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Navigating Your Group Health Plan for 2013 After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on Health Reform



Thursday, July 26, 2012
Product Code - TMW11
Speaker(s): Alden Bianchi, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. and Greta E. Cowart, Haynes & Boone, LLP
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The United States Supreme Court has reached an historical opinion on the fate of health care reform as enacted in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (including the acts amending such act) (collectively the “ACA”). Employers and group health plan sponsors now face a number of challenges in complying with all of the guidance being issued on the ACA. The panel will discuss the implications of the decision and the implications of such decision on decisions employers must make now for the 2013 plan year.

The program will provide an overview of the important issues to consider with respect to implementing the effective ACA provisions and guidance. There will be sufficient time for attendees to pose questions to the panelists.

Topics to be covered include:

  • Analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision and its implication for group health plans and group health insurance
  • New health flexible spending account guidance
  • New guidance on Summaries of Benefits and Coverage
  • Complying with the W-2 reporting requirements on health coverage
  • Considerations regarding planning for the next stages of the ACA implementation

Educational Objectives

  • Understand the impact the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the ACA and the implications of such decision on group health plans.
  • Understand planning considerations for group health plans for 2013 in light of the decision
  • Understanding consequences of choices available for 2013 and the alternatives available

Alden Bianchi, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. and Greta E. Cowart, Haynes & Boone, LLP

 Alden J. Bianchi is the Practice Group Leader of Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice and a Member in the Employment, Labor & Benefits Section at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

He advises corporate, not-for-profit, governmental, and individual clients on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits issues, including qualified and nonqualified 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. Alden represented the Romney administration in connection with the historic 2006 Massachusetts health care reform act, and he has testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the subject of health care reform. He is a member of the BNA Pension & Benefit Publications Advisory Board, a resource to one of the nation’s premier tax and legal publishers, Tax Management, Inc./Bureau of National Affairs.

Alden is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Suffolk University and Georgetown University law schools, and he holds an LL.M. in taxation from Boston University School of Law. He is listed in Woodward & White’s Best Lawyers in America and Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Law, and was also nationally recognized in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in his field. Annually since 2006, Alden has been recognized as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer by the publishers of Boston Magazine. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and has the honor of an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

Greta E. Cowart is known for fixing complex employee benefit plan issues and has secured significant results in Internal Revenue Service employee plans team audits and in U.S. Department of Labor audits of employee benefit plans. During Greta's 26-year career, Greta has also resolved significant employee benefit compliance issues through the various voluntary compliance programs. Through her work on the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, she has worked with the technical provisions governing retirement plans and executive compensation. Greta has worked extensively with Code section 409A and the regulations under such section governing nonqualified deferred compensation, and other employee benefits issues in depth and provided recommendations to the government for its use in rule making. Greta is a former Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Taxation. Greta's extensive knowledge of employee benefits and executive compensation provides her with the background to assist corporations quickly with plan design and administration issues, including litigation of benefit disputes.

Greta is a contributor to Haynes and Boone's Practical Benefits Lawyer blog, which discusses issues and developments in the areas of employee benefits and executive compensation.