Employee Wellness Plans: What Employers Need to Know

Employee wellness plans have become more common in recent years.  Their increased popularity reflects the belief that encouraging healthy habits among workers will improve employees’ health and overall quality of life, resulting in decreased health-insurance costs and lower employee absenteeism. Wellness plans often include smoking cessation and weight loss programs.

Both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Affordable Care Act restrict the types of wellness programs that may be offered and whether an employer may charge an employee additional health insurance premiums if the employee is a smoker or otherwise engages in unhealthy practices. State laws also regulate these programs. If your organization has a wellness program or wishes to adopt one, you should know the facts.

On October 27, Garrett Fenton, a member of the law firm of Miller & Chevalier, will discuss all the dos and don'ts of administering wellness programs in a new D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center webinar. This program is for human resources professionals or other nonprofit staff responsible for managing employee wellness plans.

In advance of the webinar, Miller & Chevalier has prepared a legal alert that gives a brief overview of the rules regarding wellness plans. Please look it over and bring your questions to the webinar.

Date: October 27, 2015
Time: 12 noon ET
Cost: Free

To register, please click here.