Wellness programs are attracting increasing attention from government watchdogs and citizen advocacy groups.
The latest attack is focused on wellness program designers who include questions about pregnancy. As reported by Kaiser Health News, the National Women's Law Center was among the advocacy groups that have petitioned the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ban any pregnancy-related questions in wellness intake questionnaires, due to concerns that the information will get back to employers.
The EEOC has been critical of wellness plans that intentionally or unintentionally make employees feel like their participation in the program isn't truly voluntary. The agency has also warned plan designers that plans can't run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring activities or actions that can't be easily performed by those with a disability. It is developing a set of rules for wellness plans, and has been flooded with comments pro and con.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
