On Oct. 30, 2015, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a proposed rule to amend the regulations implementing Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) as they relate to employer wellness programs that are part of group health plans.
GINA protects individuals from employment discrimination based on their genetic information. In general, covered employers (those with15 or more employees) are prohibited from using genetic information for employment decisions and are restricted in their ability to disclose or request genetic information.
Since information about the current or past health status of an employee’s spouse or other family member is considered genetic information about the employee, the EEOC’s current GINA regulations could be read as prohibiting employers from offering incentives under a wellness program in return for a spouse providing his or her current or past health information. The proposed rule explains how employers may lawfully offer incentives for this information under GINA.
The proposed rule would allow an employer to offer limited incentives for an employee’s spouse to provide current or past health status information as part of a wellness program, in situations where the spouse participates in the employer’s health plan. Under the proposed rule, an employer may offer, as part of its health plan, a limited incentive (in the form of a reward or penalty) to an employee whose spouse is covered under the employee’s health plan, receives health or genetic services offered by the employer (including as part of a wellness program), and provides information about his or her current or past health status.
Information about current or past health status is usually provided as part of a health risk assessment (HRA), which may include a questionnaire or medical examination. However, no inducement may be offered in return for the spouse providing his or her own genetic information, including results of his or her genetic tests. Read more
