News & Analysis as of

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Tobacco Wellness Programs

Bricker Graydon LLP

Can you Charge Smokers More for Your Health Plan?  

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Several new lawsuits have been filed recently alleging that employers violated HIPAA’s non-discrimination rule by charging higher health insurance premiums to employees who use tobacco products. ...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Employers Continue to Face ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits, With Mixed Results

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Recently, companies have seen a spate of class action lawsuits challenging the legality of tobacco cessation wellness programs and related tobacco surcharges imposed by their employer-sponsored health benefit plans....more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Holy Smokes: Is Your Tobacco Surcharge Program Compliant?

Warner Norcross + Judd on

A “tobacco surcharge” is part of many employers’ wellness programs, where the employer charges tobacco users higher health insurance premiums than non-tobacco users. A typical tobacco surcharge program will ask an employee if...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Smoke ‘Em One By One … Navigating the Wave of Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits

Over the past several months, numerous large employers and their health plan fiduciaries have faced lawsuits regarding their health plan’s tobacco surcharge. A tobacco surcharge wellness program typically charges a higher...more

Fisher Phillips

Rising ERISA Class-Action Lawsuits Over Tobacco Surcharges in Health Plans: What Employers Need to Know + 6 Steps to Stay...

Fisher Phillips on

A wave of ERISA class-action lawsuits is challenging tobacco surcharge programs in employer-sponsored health plans across the U.S. These cases center on potential fiduciary breaches, with plaintiffs arguing that surcharges...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

I Feel Good… I Knew That I Would… Wellness Program Reminders

With employers considering the imposition of health plan premium surcharges on participants who are COVID unvaccinated, a recent court decision highlights the importance of complying with the HIPAA wellness program...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Wellness Programs - An Update in Evolving Compliance

Poyner Spruill LLP on

Defining “wellness” for any one person is no simple task and neither is deciphering a given wellness program’s compliance under the law. In 2016, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its final...more

Snell & Wilmer

EEOC Proposed Regulations May Require Revisions to Your Tobacco Prevention Wellness Program

Snell & Wilmer on

In our April 21 blog, Wellness Programs: Agencies Issue Helpful Guidance but Look Before You Leap, Nancy Campbell wrote about the release of the much-anticipated EEOC proposed regulations concerning wellness programs. In her...more

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