News & Analysis as of

Health Insurance Wellness Programs

Williams Mullen

[Hybrid Event] 2025 Benefits Forum: Benefit Trends for a Resilient Workforce - September 25th, Richmond, VA

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Join Williams Mullen for our hybrid 2025 Benefits Forum, where our attorneys will examine how emerging trends and recent legislative developments have created new opportunities for employers to design benefits that meet the...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Can you Charge Smokers More for Your Health Plan?  

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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

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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

Epstein Becker & Green

What Health Care Lawyers and Professionals Need to Know About Emerging Employee Benefit Issues

“ERISA, you’ll need a lawyer for that.” Our practice group’s tagline is meant to be a shorthand for the alphabet soup of laws that apply to employee benefits, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Holy Smokes: Is Your Tobacco Surcharge Program Compliant?

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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

Ankura

Beyond the Prescription: Ozempic's Influence on Health, Retail, and Consumer Behavior

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Ozempic's meteoric rise has reshaped the landscape of healthcare, retail, and consumer behavior. Its initial popularity as a weight loss medication has sparked a broader conversation around health, wellness, and body image....more

Fisher Phillips

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

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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

McDermott Will & Schulte

Key Takeaways | Putting Employee Wellness Programs to Work

During this session, panelists discussed the unique opportunities and challenges of digital-health wellness programs that partner with employers and health plans in considering, adopting and operationalizing wellness programs...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Departments Issue Guidance on Preventive Services under the ACA Following the Braidwood Decision

In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

2022 ERISA Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures Checklist

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We recognize that many companies sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and are currently undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist with that process, we have prepared an...more

Maynard Nexsen

Department of Labor Responds to COVID-Related Medical Premium Discounts and Surcharges

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Over the past few months, many employers have announced plans to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their workforce by implementing either medical premium discounts for the vaccinated or surcharges for the unvaccinated. ...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

The Impact of the ACA Employer Shared Responsibility Rules and Wellness Program Limits on COVID-19 Premium Surcharges

In a previous post, we reported on an announcement by Delta Airlines that it would impose a premium surcharge on employees covered under its group health plan who failed to get vaccinated for COVID-19. This follow-on post...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Can Employers Charge Higher Group Medical Insurance Premiums for Unvaccinated Employees?

As many companies continue to struggle with low employee COVID-19 vaccination rates, some employers are evaluating imposing higher premiums for unvaccinated employees under their group medical plans. These employers see this...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

EEOC Wellness Rules Proposed, Water Bottle Enthusiasts Rejoice

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Synopsis: For years, employers have struggled to understand what level of incentives in wellness programs might be considered “voluntary” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

What's In Those Proposed Wellness Regs?

Some Q and A. Last week (while I was on vacay), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued proposed regulations on wellness programs and the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information...more

K&L Gates LLP

Well Done? EEOC's New Proposed Rules Would Limit Employer Wellness Programs to De Minimis Incentives—with Significant Exceptions

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INTRODUCTION - On 7 January 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed two new rules designed to clarify the scope of incentives that employers may offer employees as part of a wellness program...more

Holland & Hart - Employers' Lawyers

EEOC’s New Stand on Wellness Programs

On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission unveiled two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking regarding what employers can do to encourage workers to participate in corporate wellness programs without violating...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

EEOC’s New ADA Regulations Could Complicate Employer Plans to Offer Incentives for Getting the COVID Vaccine as Part of a Wellness...

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As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available in coming months, employers are exploring ways to maximize vaccination rates within their workforce.  Some employers are  considering making vaccination mandatory. ...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The Future of Wellness Programs Offered by Long-Term Care Insurers

Long-term care insurance is intended to protect against the chances that someone faces a physical or cognitive impairment that impacts their daily life in a significant way, and which is chronic in nature – in other words, an...more

Fisher Phillips

Group Health Plan Sponsors Receive Welcome Guidance On COVID-19 Testing Coverage Provisions

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A second round of FAQs recently issued by the Labor Department, the IRS, and the Department of Health and Human Services provides plan sponsors and insurers with additional implementation guidance relating to health coverage...more

Williams Mullen

[Event] 2019 Employee Benefits Forum - Employee Engagement: Providing Benefits that Attract & Retain Employees While Avoiding...

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Topics include legal considerations for: • 401(k) Plan participation: Designing a 401(k) plan to increase enrollment and retirement savings • Financial Wellness Programs: Preparing employees for financial security during...more

Williams Mullen

PODCAST: Wellness Program Compliance Update

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In this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, Brydon DeWitt and Claire Pollock discuss what employers need to know about the current status of EEOC wellness program regulations. [Speaker: Claire Pollock]...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Back at Square One: The Questionable Status of Employer Wellness Plans

Sponsored wellness plans that include incentives to employees who voluntarily disclose personal health information as part of disability-related inquiries or medical examinations are in legal limbo after the EEOC removed the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Take Note: EEOC Vacates the Incentive Sections of its Final Wellness Regulations

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC has withdrawn the incentive provisions in its ADA and GINA wellness program regulations. The remaining provisions have less bite as a consequence, especially in the ADA context. But HIPAA wellness...more

Polsinelli

Employers: Be Mindful When Implementing Wellness Programs

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In October 2016, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sought an injunction against the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) final rules on wellness programs, alleging that the...more

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