ERIC Outraged over Latest Wellness Suit Brought by EEOC

On Monday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a memorandum in Federal District Court in Minnesota asking for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), alleging that wellness programs sponsored by Honeywell violated both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

“This is an outrageous development, and one that could potentially jeopardize not only the health of America’s workers, but also that of their spouses,” said Gretchen Young, ERIC Senior Vice President for Health Policy.

To read more, click here.

Xerox Survey Examines Use of Wellness Programs

In "Employers Worldwide Step Up Investments in Workers’ Wellness; Look to Wellness to Drive Company Performance", Xerox found that

"Seventy-eight percent of the world’s employers are strongly committed to creating a workplace culture of health, to boost individual engagement and organizational performance. A new survey of employers worldwide illustrates their investments in wellness: 43 percent say they created a brand identity for their employee wellness programs, 52 percent offer health insurance premium reductions, and 65 percent believe wellness programs are extremely or very important to attract and retain workers."

To read more, click here.

Mintz Levin Alerts Plans to Upcoming Deadlines

In "Employee Benefits: Important Wellness Plan and Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder Parity Effective Dates Have Arrived!", Mintz Levin indicates that:

"Employers and insurers offering medical plans: take note! Two important final regulations issued jointly by the IRS, DOL and HHS (the “Departments”) apply to plan years (or, in the individual market, policy years) beginning on or after July 1, 2014. For plans and policies which operate on a calendar year, there is still time (until January 1, 2015) to comply; however, plans and policies with a July 1 plan or policy year must comply now."

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EBRI Offers Insights on Wellness Programs

In "What Motivates Wellness Program Participation?", the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) indicates that:

"Wellness benefits—programs designed to promote health and to prevent disease—are an increasingly popular benefit in the workplace, and new research from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) offers insights on why workers participate in these programs and what might encourage nonparticipants to join."

To read more, click here.

Congresswoman Urges EEOC to Address Wellness Programs and Genetic Information

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), who sponsored the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), recently wrote to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) expressing concern over reports of wellness programs coercing private health information from participants, noting that such a practice may violate several federal nondiscrimination laws, including GINA.

Slaughter noted that a specific wellness program of a major university reportedly charged a $100 noncompliance fee per month for employees who refused to participate in an online health assessment that requested personal health information. She requested that the EEOC promptly draft sub-regulatory guidance “stopping this type of abuse and ensuring strong nondiscrimination protections for employees in wellness programs.” “Any employer wellness plan that coerces employees to provide genetic information through monetary incentives would violate the core intent of GINA and other civil rights laws’ protections,” Slaughter wrote.

ERIC members and trial members can read more here.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's letter is available here.

ERIC testimony before the EEOC on wellness plans is available here.

Survey Explores Use of Technology by Wellness Plans

A new survey from Buck Consultants explores technology and wellness plans. In "How Technology is Shaping Wellness Programs," they indicate that:

"Around the world, employers are using competitions and games, social networking and mobile apps to support a culture of health and drive behavior change. The 2012 “Emerging Technology in Health Engagement” survey...surveyed 400 compensation, benefits and HR professionals about gamification (the use of gamelike features in nongame situations to motivate changed behaviors), mobile technology and social media. Results of the survey showed that almost 75 percent of responding organizations have a health engagement strategy. Survey respondents rated gamification as most prevalent in current use and most effective in improving specific health and lifestyle behaviors."

For the full article, click here.

RAND Corporation Publishes Infographic on Wellness Plans

The RAND Corporation recently published an infographic titled "The Skinny on Workplace Wellness Plans", which includes the following data.

"About 51 percent of U.S. employers offer wellness programs. Large employers are more likely to have more complex programs...

Some wellness programs provide disease management services that give workers ongoing, individualized support for issues related to chronic illness, such as medication adherence...."

For a copy of the infographic, click here.

ERIC Files Comment Letter on Minimum Value Proposed Regulations

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) recently filed a comment letter on the minimum value proposed regulations.

Our significant recommendations to the IRS included:

• All wellness incentives should be taken into account for affordability purposes, not just those related to tobacco use.
• A safe harbor should be available for plans that have copayments.
• If included in the final regulation, the IRS should provide statutory justification for the assertion in the preamble that employers may not cover employees in an employer-sponsored health plan unless the employee may opt out of coverage. 
• Stand-alone HRAs should not be considered minimum essential coverage for pre-Medicare eligible retirees under specified circumstances.

ERIC’s press release is available here.

ERIC’s comment letter is available here.

The Wellness Regulations are Finally Here!

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury issued the final regulation under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to implement the Act’s increase in permissible wellness program rewards from 20% to 30% (and to 50% for smoking cessation programs).

Based on reading the regulation and conversations with several government officials, it appears that the new version is a considerable improvement from last Thanksgiving’s proposed regulation. In particular, it would appear that the rules have been considerably tightened with respect to when alternative pathways to obtain a reward must be provided and when the “medical appropriateness standard” comes into play.

ERIC members and guests can read more here.

The final regulations are available here.

Workplace Wellness Programs Study: Final Report is available here.

HHS cover letter is available here.

News release is available here.

Wellness, wellness, wellness!!!

Wellness programs have been gaining a lot of attention. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently held a hearing to explore wellness programs in greater detail. The speakers included Amy Moore on behalf of the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC). The EEOC has posted a video of the hearing as well as materials on their website. EEOC Commissioners also issued statements about the need for the EEOC to issue guidance in this area. ERIC members can read a more in-depth analysis of the hearing here.

Wellness has also been the focus of several different studies. One of these studies found that 82% of companies offer some form of incentives and/or disincentives in their wellness programs. Companies indicated that 98% of the feedback they received from employees was “somewhat positive” to “very positive.” Another study found a 9% increase in the number of companies offering wellness programs since 2009.

A recent article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine also focused on wellness programs. It reviews Johnson & Johnson’s wellness program, and the increasing role of wellness programs in improving employee health and morale, while also reducing health care costs.

Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are expected to finalize their proposed regulations on wellness very soon.

ERIC members and guests can learn more about the latest news on wellness on the FocusOn Conference Call: Wellness – the New and Continuing Challenges on May 21st at 2 pm – 3 pm ET. ERIC members and trial members can sign up here. If your company is not yet an ERIC member and you would like to request to attend the call, please contact Adreanne Cooper at acooper@eric.org.

For more information:

• EEOC Hearing Materials
• In-Depth Analysis of Hearing (ERIC Members only)
• ERIC Testimony at EEOC Hearing
• American Journal of Preventive Medicine Article
• Wellness Study - For Many Employers, Employee Wellness is No Longer Merely an Option
• Wellness Study - New Employer Survey Finds Growing Use of Outcomes-Based Incentives, Majority Using Either Carrot or Stick to Motivate Healthy Employee Behaviors
• FocusOn Conference Call: Wellness – the New and Continuing Challenges

ERIC Testifies at EEOC Wellness Hearing

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) strongly encouraged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to adopt guidance making clear that incentive-based workplace wellness programs are permissible in order to allow these programs to expand and succeed. Amy Moore of Covington & Burling LLP testified on behalf of ERIC.

ERIC believes that an effective workplace wellness program is one of the few programs that can reduce future health care costs while simultaneously providing tangible benefits to employees and employers alike. Indeed, “workplace wellness programs have proved effective in containing health costs, reducing disability claims, and improving workers’ productivity,” Moore testified. She further noted that, “Employees value these programs, and they benefit from the programs’ emphasis on promoting good health and addressing health problems before the problems become more serious and more costly to treat.”

Read more here.