Health and wellness incentive programs have major benefits both for employees’ health and in reducing companies’ spending on health care. More and more companies are implementing health and wellness incentive programs every day. When considering the legality surrounding health and wellness incentive programs there are several laws that must be taken into consideration. Here are four examples of some of those laws. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was signed into law in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. ADEA forbids age-based discrimination against employees and applicants with respect to benefits. As a result of ADEA’s protections, if a wellness program decreases rewards, terminates, or in any other way discriminates against employees who are over 40, the program could be found to be in violation of ADEA. The 2008 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) is an Act of Congress that prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees in regard to compensation, conditions, terms, or privileges of employment on the basis of “genetic information”. GINA’s prohibitions include: An employer must maintain all genetic information as confidential medical records. An employer may not require, request, or purchase genetic information. Any disclosure of genetic information must be subject to strict limits. The […]
Tag: ADEA
Health and Wellness Incentive Plans: Key Laws to Consider
Health and wellness incentive programs have a number of major benefits both to employees health and to companies’ spending on health care. More and more companies are implementing health and wellness incentive programs every day. When implementing a health and wellness incentive program there are several key laws to consider: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law in 2010. PPACA is a federal statute and health care reform legislation. When you are planning your company’s health and wellness incentive program, it is important to consider how it will affect employees’ deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, or coverage for any of the services listed in the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). If your program causes them to vary in any way, that treatment scenario’s calculations must make the assumption that the individual is participating in the wellness program and it will be necessary to include additional language in the SBC. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. ADEA forbids employers from engaging in age-based discrimination against employees and job applicants with […]
