Labor Department issues FAQ guidance on wellness program rewards and disclosures
The Labor Department says new FAQ guidance with HHS and Treasury addresses reward timing and disclosure rules for health-contingent wellness programs.
The U.S. Department of Labor said it, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department issued FAQ guidance on health-contingent wellness programs, including tobacco-cessation programs.
The department said the guidance responds to questions raised in dozens of class-action lawsuits challenging tobacco surcharges that some employers add to group health plan premiums through workplace wellness programs.
According to the release, HIPAA and the Affordable Care Act allow employers to reward workers for healthy habits through wellness programs. The department listed examples that can include nutrition, weight loss, tobacco cessation, fitness, alcohol and drug abuse assistance, stress management and general health education.
The FAQs describe a temporary enforcement position on reward timing. Until further guidance or regulations are issued, the departments will not take enforcement action against plans or issuers that do not provide the wellness-program reward retroactively to the beginning of the plan year after an employee completes a reasonable alternative standard. If retroactive rewards are not otherwise provided, the release says plans and issuers only need to provide the reward prospectively from the point the employee completes the alternative standard.
The guidance also addresses disclosures. If plan materials only say that a health-contingent wellness program is available, without describing its terms, the plan or issuer is not required to disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative standard to qualify for the reward, the release says.
Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Daniel Aronowitz said in the release that wellness programs can drive “significant and clinically meaningful health maintenance and improvements,” and that the guidance makes clear sponsors and issuers will not be penalized for offering reasonably designed, non-discriminatory wellness programs.
The release did not include the text of the FAQs, only a summary of the enforcement position. It also provided EBSA contact information for employers and workers: askebsa.dol.gov and 866-444-3272.
The Labor Department said the no-enforcement position applies until the departments issue further guidance or regulations.
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