Risk & Business Magazine Spectrum Insurance Fall 2016 | Page 26

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Employee Benefits Bulletin:

Getting

Benefits Tips

O

n May 16, 2016, the Equal
Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)
issued long-awaited
guidance that describes
how the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) apply to
employer-sponsored wellness programs.
Previously, one of the issues in question
was the extent to which employers could
offer incentives that asked employees
to answer disability-related questions
or undergo medical examinations like
health risk assessments. The final ADA
rule states that wellness programs that
ask questions about employee health
or that include medical examinations

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FALL 2016

may not offer incentives that exceed
30 percent of the total cost of self-only
coverage.

In addition, the final GINA rule clarified
that an employer can offer a limited
incentive for an employee’s spouse to
provide information about his or her
health status as part of a voluntary
wellness program.

These rules provide much needed
guidance for employers on how to
structure their wellness programs
without violating the ADA or GINA.
The final rules’ notice requirements and
incentive limits apply as of the first day
of the first plan year that begins on or
after January 1, 2017 for the health plan

used to determine the amount of the
incentive.
Employers with workplace wellness
programs should work with their brokers
to determine what changes, if any, are
needed to ensure their programs adhere
to the EEOC’s final rules.
HHS LAUNCHES PHASE 2 OF HIPAA
AUDIT PROGRAM
The US Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) has launched
Phase 2 of its HIPAA audit program,
which focuses on compliance with
HIPAA’s Privacy, Security, and Breach
Notification Rules. HHS’s Office for Civil
Rights (OCR) will be conducting these
audits.