Online Webinar 2019 - Live Webinar Implementing the Affordable Care Act, GINA, and other Discrimination Laws into Your Wellness Program HRCI 1.5

Overview
The federal government believes wellness programs can cut healthcare costs and decrease the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance by promoting health and preventing disease. The new federal regulations have divided wellness programs into two types with specific rules for each. A major piece of the regulations addresses the issue of employee discrimination based on health/disability, age, gender and other protected classes. The U. S. Department of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services regulations require that regardless of the type of wellness program, every individual participating should be able to receive the full amount of any reward or incentive, regardless of any health factor. Specific regulations have been created to prevent employee discrimination in wellness programs. Employers have until January 1, 2014 to ensure that their wellness programs comply with the final rule.
Wellness programs have progressed from merely a newsletter, exercise incentives and enhancing one’s diet, to a more comprehensive strategy to purposely try to improve employee health while decreasing the employer’s healthcare costs. Wellness programs are increasingly considered a benefit for the employee and used to incent and reward employee engagement with the program. One of the challenges that has been created along the way is discrimination of employees based on their protected class such as a disability, race, or gender. It is imperative for organizations to recognize the need to incorporate non-discriminatory options in their wellness strategy for all employees.
Session Highlights
- To provide examples of how wellness programs have resulted in discrimination lawsuits
- To explain the role that the ADA, GINA, FMLA, and other civil rights laws play in the design and development of your wellness strategy
- To provide specific examples of the alternative standards and why they are mandatory
- To list the benefits of a Wellness strategy to minimize healthcare costs for the organization and the employee
- To discuss the critical steps in designing and developing the Wellness strategy
- To plan an effective organization-wide implementation process
-To establish an effective evaluation method of the Wellness program
Learning Objectives:
- To differentiate between the two types of wellness programs and why it matters
- To list the four standards required by the ACA for health-contingent wellness programs to follow to ensure nondiscrimination
- To discuss HIPAA and specific discrimination laws and their requirements for compliance in wellness programs
- To contrast the reasonable alternative standard for activity-based wellness programs and the reasonable alternative standard for outcome-based plans
- To list the steps required for strategically planning a comprehensive wellness program
Who will Benefit
- CFOs
- Wellness Directors
- Risk Management Directors
- Occupational Health Nurse
- Employers and Business owners
- Human Resources Specialists and managers
SPEAKER:Dr. Susan Strauss is a national and international speaker, trainer, consultant and a recognized expert investigator on workplace and school harassment and bullying. She conducts harassment and bullying investigations and functions as an expert witness in harassment and bullying lawsuits. Her clients are from business, education, healthcare, law, and government organizations from both the public and private sector.