The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finally unveiled long-awaited rules today that will hopefully resolve widespread confusion over how far employers can go in prodding workers to take part in wellness programs.
The commission announced that employers are allowed to extend major financial incentives to employees who agree to disclose basic health information or participate in certain health screenings that are part of a wellness program.
The Obama administration has been straddling a fine line on wellness since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) raised the allowable financial incentive employers can offer workers for participating in wellness initiatives to 30 percent of the total cost of a company's health plan. The previous allowable amount, set during the Bush administration, was 20 percent.
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While the Obamacare policy signaled that the president and his allies supported putting more emphasis on wellness, the EEOC appeared to muddle that message by launching lawsuits against two companies over their wellness programs, including one, Honeywell Inc., that required employees to take part in certain wellness measures, such as biometric screening, to have access to the company health plan. A federal judge ruled against the EEOC, finding that Honeywell's policy was legal.
It was in the context of this mixed messaging that the EEOC felt pressure to align its rules with the stated agenda of the administration.
The rules enshrined the 30 percent threshold for both employees and their spouses. The agency has also clarified the privacy measures employers must follow, including restrictions on supervisors having access to the health information workers disclose.
Employer groups appear content with the new rules.
"While we may have hoped for some additional flexibility, the rules do what the EEOC was asked to do – clarify for employers where their wellness plan incentives stand with respect to ADA and GINA compliance," said Brian Marcotte, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), in a statement.
But some advocates for workers voiced disappointment with what they see as an increasing burden on employees to submit to carrot-and-sticks health care plans and potentially be subject to discrimination.
"These rules put workers between a rock and hard place," Nancy Leamond, executive vice president of AARP, told USA Today. "Older workers, in particular, are more likely to have the very types of less visible medical conditions and disabilities — such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer — that are at risk of disclosure by wellness questionnaires and exams."
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