12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 9 - Trends in the Tobacco Industry — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
2022 Significant Developments in the Tobacco Industry and What to Expect in 2023 (Part Two) - Regulatory Oversight Podcast
Employers are facing a surge in class action lawsuits challenging health plan premium surcharges imposed on smokers and other tobacco users, commonly referred to as “smoker surcharges.” Earlier this year Bass Pro Shops agreed...more
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
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
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
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
Although the Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services believe that wellness programs are delivering on their promise of improving health and reducing costs, one type has...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) prohibits employers who offer health and welfare benefit plans from discriminating against plan participants on the basis of a health status-related factor, such as a...more
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
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
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
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