New EEOC Regulations Provide Roadmap For Wellness Programs

For large employers, the quest to reduce the cost of medical benefits relies in part on helping employees get healthier. Enter the "wellness program," where employers offer incentives to employees and their families to be more proactive about their health in various ways, such as more exercise, quitting smoking, diagnosing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and evaluating the risk of future health problems.

Although wellness programs are well-intentioned, they raise issues under various federal laws, including:

• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which prohibits discrimination in group health plans on the basis of adverse health factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, medical history, and genetic information;