On April 15, 2015, Supreme Court Justice Alito stayed the final order of the federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Zubik v. Burwell. The Third Circuit had denied rehearing of its order denying relief in a case in which two Catholic dioceses, among other religious organizations, had challenged the administration’s latest accommodation of religious objections to compliance with the contraceptive coverage mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act. The administration had proposed the accommodation, which merely requires religious organizations to notify the government of an objection to compliance and then leaves the government responsible for ensuring compliance, in response to an earlier Supreme Court order which had indicated this approach was acceptable. Justice Alito gave the government until April 20 to respond. The contraceptive issue is now again before the Supreme Court.
Workplace wellness programs are very controversial. Employers believe that they improve employee health, reduce absenteeism, and cut the cost of employee health benefit programs. They are encouraged in this belief by wellness program vendors, who aggressively tout the benefits of their programs. Disability advocates, on the other hand, are concerned that wellness programs are perpetuating discrimination against the disabled and health status underwriting. Privacy advocates worry about who has access to the sensitive medical information that wellness programs demand of participants. Others worry about the control that employers assert over their employees’ lives through wellness programs, as employees spend hours of off-the-clock time every week meeting the demands of wellness programs while wearable devices track their footsteps.
Wellness programs are a product of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which outlawed health status underwriting in group health benefit programs, but allowed group health plans to offer incentives to employees for participation, or penalties for nonparticipation, in wellness programs that met certain requirements. The Affordable Care Act extended HIPAA’s prohibition against health status underwriting to the individual and small group markets, but reaffirmed the wellness program exception, in fact increasing the size of incentives or penalties that employers could offer or impose. Final ACA wellness program regulations were promulgated by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury in June of 2013, defining the conditions under which wellness programs could be offered.
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Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
