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A pharmacy chain is being sued over its requirement that employees undergo a “wellness exam” or pay a $600 surcharge on their health plan contribution. The lawsuit, filed in California state court as a class action, characterizes the surcharge as an illegal “wage deduction,” and contends that employees who did take the exam should have […]
Wellness benefits have exploded in the past decade because they purportedly make employees healthier and save employers money, but they have found a detractor in at least one labor union. John Borsos, secretary-treasurer of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, told reporters in Washington, D.C., Dec. 17, that wellness programs are a $6 billion industry […]
A series of agency Q&As resolves a few questions relating to complying with federal health care reform, such as correctly counting participants’ out-of-pocket expenditures; wellness program reward administration; and the status of “carved-out” benefits. In latest set of Frequently Asked Questions, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury provide some […]
As the 2014 plan year nears, plan sponsors are still sifting through the recently finalized changes to HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules on wellness programs. The rules, issued June 3 (78 Fed. Reg. 33158), legally took effect Aug. 2 and must be met for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Along with raising the […]
Federal agencies just issued new final rules for contingency-based wellness program goals under health reform. If employers offer to give a reward (such as discounted health insurance premiums) to workers who accomplish some kind of biometric goal (a contingency standard), then employers must have a standing “reasonable alternative” to the contingency-based standard, government officials told […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s failure thus far to issue clear guidance on permissible wellness incentives threatens to undermine employers’ development of wellness programs at a time when their importance is growing, business groups warned the EEOC at a May 8 hearing. “We urge you to recognize the comprehensive regulatory framework that already exists” […]
Determining whether group health coverage provides “minimum value” is key to avoiding penalties under health reform’s premium tax credit program, so employers will likely welcome new proposed rules that further explain MV criteria. The proposal, to be published May 3 by IRS, would complement language in final rules issued in February on how reform’s MV […]
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer, is getting in on the concept of “Centers of excellence,” a method of steering referrals to providers who perform more efficiently in a bid to bend the health cost curve. With the generous coverage, the company creates good press and may counter its reputation as being skimpy on workers’ benefits. […]
Health risk assessments and biometrics, while an important source of wellness data, are not always the best place to start when implementing a wellness program, a wellness expert said in a Thompson Interactive webinar. “Think through your culture and what you’ve been doing,” said Brad Cooper, CEO of US Corporate Wellness. Many companies started with […]
Getting good results from an employee wellness program requires a continuing organizational commitment and understanding of what motivates individual employees, wellness expert Brad Cooper told a recent Thompson Interactive webinar. He warned of some common wellness program pitfalls. One is a “check-the box” approach — such as setting up a biometric screening and distributing a […]