How Does Your Employer Wellness Program Measure Up?

Posted by cregerlaw on

By: Christina M. Reger 
 
Last Friday, the EEOC published proposed amendments to GINA, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act as it relates to Employer Wellness Programs. 
 
What is GINA you ask? GINA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of their genetic information, including genetic information of family members such as spouses, unless one of six narrow exceptions applies. One of those narrow exceptions is when an employee voluntarily accepts health or genetic services offered by an employer, including such services offered as part of a wellness program. 
 
What do the current regulations say? Under the current EEOC regulations implementing GINA, employers are prohibited from offering incentives in return for genetic information. Therefore, an employer offering a wellness program had to tread lightly so as not to violate GINA. 
 
What does the proposed regulations say? An employers that offer wellness programs as part of group health plans may provide limited financial and other inducements (also called incentives) in exchange for an employee’s spouse providing information about his or her current or past health status information. 
 
What is the financial incentive that an employer may offer? “The total incentive for an employee and spouse to participate in a wellness program that is part of a group health plan and collects information about current or past health status may not exceed 30 percent of the total cost of the plan in which the employee and any dependents are enrolled.” 
 
How does this affect me? The enactment of these regulations will provide clarity to employers and offer additional benefits to keep employees healthy that will benefit everyone. 
 
Attached below are links to the EEOC press release: 
  
http://www.eeoc.gov//eeoc/newsroom/release/10-29-15.cfm 
 
EEOC Q&A: http://www.eeoc.gov//eeoc/newsroom/release/10-29-15.cfm 
 
And EEOC Small Business Fact Sheet: http://www.eeoc.gov//laws/regulations/fact-sheet-gina-wellness.cfm