Wellness program incentive

A wellness program that merely asks employees whether or not they use tobacco or whether they ceased using tobacco by the end of the program is not a wellness program that asks disability-related questions. Therefore, the rule's 30 percent incentive limit does not apply and, an employer can offer an incentive up to 50 percent of the cost of self-only coverage, consistent with HIPAA, as amended by the Affordable Care Act.

However, where an employer requires any biometric screening or other medical procedure that tests for the presence of nicotine or tobacco, the rule's 30 percent incentive limit applies. The final rule does not change language concerning confidentiality including any exceptions to confidentiality that was already part of EEOC's existing ADA regulations, but adds two new requirements.

First, a covered entity only may receive information collected by a wellness program in aggregate form that does not disclose, and is not reasonably likely to disclose, the identity of specific individuals except as is necessary to administer a health plan.

Second, an employer may not require an employee to agree to the sale, exchange, sharing, transfer, or other disclosure of medical information, or to waive confidentiality protections under the ADA as a condition for participating in a wellness program or receiving an incentive for participating, except to the extent permitted by the ADA to carry out specific activities related to the wellness program.

For example, where a wellness program is part of a group health plan, HIPAA's privacy, security, and breach notification rules protect information collected from or created about participants that can be used to identify them such as their address or birth date and that relates to any past or present health condition and sets limits on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information.

An employer that sponsors a group health plan may receive this information but must certify to the plan that it will safeguard and not improperly use or share it.

Generally, wellness programs can comply with EEOC's final rule by complying with their obligations under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, and employers can comply with their obligations by certifying that they will not use any personally identifiable information for employment purposes and abiding by that certification.

For example, if the health plan that is used to calculate the permissible incentive limit begins on January 1, , that is the date on which the rules on incentives and the notice requirements apply to the wellness program. If the plan used to calculate the level of incentives begins on March 1, , the provisions on incentives and notice requirements will apply to the wellness program as of that date.

The rest of the provisions of the rule, which simply clarify existing obligations, apply both before and after publication of the final rule. The effective date is the date on which the rule will be in the Code of Federal Regulations, the official publication for federal regulations.

The applicability date is the date on which employers have to comply with the requirement to provide a notice and the provisions limiting incentives. This rule says that employers may offer limited inducements incentives for an employee's spouse to participate in a wellness program. Background 1. What is a wellness program? ADA Protections 2. What is the ADA and how does it apply to wellness programs?

Purpose of the Rule 3. Why did EEOC issue this final rule? Does this rule apply to wellness programs that are not part of an employer's group health plan? What is the ADA's "safe harbor" provision, and does it apply to wellness programs that include disability-related inquiries or medical examinations?

What standards apply to wellness programs that ask employees to provide medical information? Engage in regular physical activity over a minimum of 12 weeks minimum of three moderate-intensity activity sessions, each lasting at least 30 minutes.

Documentation of activity required only upon audit. Types of documentation may include: use of activity tracking devices such as FitBit, Jawbone, an accelerometer or pedometer; paper log; print out of visits from fitness or yoga center; etc. The quality of your sleep affects just about every aspect of your life. Adequate sleep is just as important as eating well and being active; it contributes significantly to better physical and mental health.

Sleep programs include:. Stress Managemen t series possibilities include:. In the past 10 years, WellSteps has helped hundreds of clients set up and manage well-being incentive plans. Some of these have been a huge successes and others—not so much.

The goal of the wellness program is to help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. It is best when employees are internally motivated to be healthy. But sometimes employees get stuck in unhealthy habits and they need help adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors. The best way to do this is to provide small incentives, such as gift cards, to randomly selected employees who successfully complete different aspects of the wellness program. We have great published scientific evidence that this incentive approach works.

It is the incentive approach that WellSteps recommends to all of our clients. Employees can qualify for a drawing if they complete a personal health assessment, biometric screening, a behavior change campaign, or a challenge. All employees do not get an incentive for completing the target behavior because that leads to entitlement. Instead, they earn the chance to win—sort of like the lottery, only not as big.

Just having a chance to win is fun and is sufficient to motivate most employees. For example, if a company with employees has complete a behavior change campaign, all employees are entered to win a small number of gift cards, prizes, or event tickets.

These small gifts given immediately upon program completion make the program more fun, create the opportunity for vicarious reinforcement, and provide substantial motivation to participate at very little cost. Employers get even greater adoption of employee health behavior with a benefits-based incentive plan. This helps to quit bad habits like smoking. Paid leaves are the final incentive that companies provide.

They offer their employees a few days off if they meet certain goals. These are in terms of weight loss , visits to the gym, etc. This is a nice bonus that can help them stay on track with their wellness program.

It helps to handle any stress they might have from work or home life. Gift cards are an incentive that many people enjoy. They might be given for any number of wellness-related activities.

For example, if employees lose a certain amount of weight, they might receive gift cards to their favorite healthy restaurant in town. These can be from online retailers like Amazon or iTunes.

Gift merchandise can also be an incentive. It is for making progress with their wellness program. Recognition and rewards are other types of incentives that many companies offer. For example, they might publicly recognize an employee who has lost the most weight or brag about them in a company newsletter, etc.

Another way to motivate employees is by creating games where they can compete with their coworkers for wellness-related prizes. It is where people try to guess what was put on their sandwich each day. There are other options where companies just choose to be generous.