Updates to Statute 1557 that Healthcare Providers Need to Know
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Can Employers Impose a Health Insurance Surcharge on Plan Participants Not Vaccinated for COVID-19?
PODCAST: Wellness Program Compliance Update
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule revamping the non-discrimination regulations issued under § 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The revised rules apply to all...more
As online digital health services continue to enjoy broader use and appeal, federal regulators are concerned some telemedicine online patient-user interfaces fail to accommodate persons with disabilities and limited English...more
On August 4, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) to reinterpret section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed two new regulations on January 7 applying the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) to...more
On August 28, 2018, the Southern District of New York awarded monetary damages, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees to a plaintiff who filed a discrimination complaint under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, Section...more
Administering health plans is not the easiest task. Such plans are subject to an alphabet soup of laws, including but not limited to ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, COBRA, HIPAA, GINA, Mental Health Parity, the ADA, the...more
Almost ten months into the Trump Administration, the executive and legislative branches have been preoccupied with attempting to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) – but each attempt has thus far proved...more
With open enrollment in full swing for many employers, now is a good time to review employee benefit communications. Plan sponsors of health plans are generally responsible for properly administering all of the health plan...more
For years, employers have been trying to find the right incentives for employees to embrace wellness programs. If incentives are too meager, employees are not likely to participate. If they are weighted too heavily in favor...more
Q. Are the EEOC’s Wellness Program rules still valid? A. The ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act both permit an employer to seek medical information as part of a wellness program if the employee...more
On Tuesday, August 22, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the EEOC to revisit its controversial rules placing certain limits on employer-sponsored wellness programs under the Americans with...more
When is a financial incentive in an employee-sponsored wellness program so high that employees can’t afford not to participate—rendering the program no longer voluntary? Well (pun intended), the District Court for the...more
As we have previously discussed in detail in several blogs (New EEOC Regulations Provide Roadmap for Wellness Programs; EEOC Issues Final Rules On Employer-Sponsored Wellness Program Compliance Under the ADA and GINA; and...more
The road to health plan compliance has never been straight and narrow, but it has become more winding over the years, due in large part to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The road to compliance just became even more difficult...more
As we start looking forward to 2017, and as many employers head into annual enrollment periods this fall, employers need to be aware of recent changes in the law that have a significant impact on health benefit plans. This...more
The EEOC’s regulations allayed many concerns over the permissible level of incentives/penalties, as well as the challenge of dealing with inconsistent requirements under the various laws. Originally published in The HR...more
On May 18, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued final regulations interpreting the nondiscrimination provisions of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The rule mainly impacts insurers...more
As discussed in a prior alert, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued final rules providing guidance on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information...more
Please see Infographic below for more information. ...more
With the final rules, the EEOC tried to harmonize, to some extent, its new regulations with the existing HIPAA/ACA regulations. On May 17, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued long-awaited...more
Wellness programs should all be reviewed considering the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) regulatory changes because noncompliance with the new requirements do...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued two final rules May 16, 2016 that guide employers on the manner with which their wellness programs that ask health-related questions and/or require participants to...more
Increasingly, more employers are offering workplace wellness programs to promote and encourage healthier lifestyles for their employees and to prevent disease. These programs often involve medical questionnaires, health risk...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has published final regulations and a set of questions and answers on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employer-sponsored wellness programs that offer...more
On May 16, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued final regulations governing the treatment of wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information...more