If you were to ask most employers whether reporting is a core function of employee benefit plan administration, they would likely say yes, particularly as many are currently in the middle of completing IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. On top of the numerous reporting requirements for group health plans imposed by IRS and other federal
Health Coverage Made Available ONLY to Wellness Program Participants, OK under ADA “Safe Harbor” Says District Court
With final ADA and GINA wellness program regulations expected this year from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), 2016 looks to be an important year for regulation of these programs. However, program features like health risk assessments (HRAs) and biometric screenings have already become popular components of employer-sponsored health plans. In many cases, employers
ERISA Claims Procedures For Disability Benefits To Get An ACA Make Over
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Federal Department of Labor plans to publish on November 18, 2015, new claims procedures for adjudicating disability benefits designed to enhance existing procedures for those benefits under Section 503 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). EBSA’s goal is to apply to disability benefits many of
ACA Auto-enrollment Requirement Repealed
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), larger employers have wondered about an auto-enrollment provision that the ACA added to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under that provision, employers that are subject to the FLSA and which employed more than 200 full-time employees would have been required to automatically enroll new full-time
Reducing Employee Hours to Avoid ACA Obligations to Offer Coverage Violates ERISA § 510, Class Action Suit Alleges
One strategy for minimizing exposure to the employer shared responsibility penalties under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to minimize the number of “full-time employees” – that is, the number of employers working 30 or more hours per week on average. Employers can accomplish this through reducing the number of hours certain current and future
Waiting for GINA Guidance on Wellness Programs? EEOC Announces Anticipated Timing of Proposed Regulations
Since April, employers have been mulling over proposed wellness program regulations issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to address certain issues under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). We briefly summarized those proposed rules, and remind readers that there still is time to submit comments to the EEOC in order to seek
EEOC Publishes Proposed Wellness Program Regulations
Today the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published long-awaited proposed regulations on wellness programs (Proposed Regs) that are intended to harmonize certain provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with long-standing rules concerning wellness programs applicable to group health plans under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and more recently, the Affordable
As Employers Await Wellness Program Regulations From The EEOC, Congress Has Acted
We reported in December 2014, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said it was planning to issue proposed regulations (scheduled for February 2015) that would “promot[e] consistency between the ADA and HIPAA, as amended by the ACA,” and “clarify[] that employers who offer wellness programs are free to adopt a certain type of inducement
EEOC Announces Intent to Propose Regulations That May Harmonize ADA and GINA with ACA Wellness Program Rules
Since filing multiple litigations against employers concerning their wellness programs, including seeking a temporary restraining order against Honeywell International, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has faced a significant amount of push back from many U.S. companies, their CEOs and other organizations.
The reason … programs designed to be compliant with the wellness
Court Denies EEOC’s TRO Motion Seeking to Halt Employer’s Wellness Program
As reported in our Disability, Leave & Health Management Blog, Judge Ann D. Montgomery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota denied the EEOC’s TRO request to immediately stop an employer, Honeywell, from implementing its wellness program, ruling that the EEOC did not establish that there would be irreparable harm. Judge