The EEOC has released the soon to be published revised wellness rules for ADA and GINA compliance. These are proposed rules and are not final. There will be a 60-day comment period starting when the proposed rule is officially published in the Federal Register. The below analysis of the proposed rules will focus on the rules under the ADA as most wellness plans are now designed to avoid implicating GINA and its requirements.
The most important proposed change to the ADA wellness rules is the prohibition of incentives beyond de minimis incentives for any wellness plan that is not a health-contingent wellness program that is part of a group health plan or is itself a group health plan. This means that participatory wellness programs could not offer more than a de minimis reward. The proposed rule states that de minimis in this context means a reward like a water bottle or gift card of modest value and that a $50 monthly premium incentive would not be de minimis. The rulemaking process is unclear at this time because the Biden administration has paused all rulemaking currently in process for further consideration.
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