By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress management for healthcare workers
    3 Tips For Healthcare Professionals: How To Stay Beautiful, Healthy, and Happy
    November 2, 2021
    importance of relaxing on the weekend for your health
    Importance of Relaxing During the Weekend for Optimal Health
    March 25, 2022
    LASIK Eye Surgery
    What Is LASIK Eye Surgery?
    May 16, 2022
    Latest News
    6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
    September 10, 2025
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Heroism in Harm’s Way
    February 21, 2015
    5 Things Every Trainee GP Should Know
    August 27, 2019
    Top 5 Facts About CPPA Accreditation
    April 9, 2015
    Latest News
    Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
    September 9, 2025
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Wellness > Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy
Wellness

Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy

David Harlow
David Harlow
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

MC900440127A couple of recent wellness-related headlines caught my eye.

MC900440127A couple of recent wellness-related headlines caught my eye.

Exhibit A: The Federales (IRS, DOL & HHS) finalized the regulations governing Incentives for Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs in Group Health Plans under the ACA.

In a nutshell, these regulations establish a framework for incentives to employees to participate in and succeed at employer-sponsored wellness programs. More accurately, they establish a safe harbor, an affirmative defense to a potential employment discrimination lawsuit brought by someone who didn’t get the fianncial benefit or health insurance discount because he or she didn’t enroll or didn’t succeed in the employer-sponsored wellness program — a “participatory” wellness program, like a health club membership reimbursement plan, or a “health-contingent program” like a tobacco users’ health insurance surcharge or a health insurance discount available to any employee who does not test positive for a given biometric health risk marker — like high cholesterol — and to any employee who does test positive and who also attends relevant sessions with a health coach.

So long as the incentives meet the requirements of the regs, that sort of lawsuit is a loser. For health-contingent wellness programs, these requirements include: no more than a 30% disparity in cost — up from 20% in the past, with the possibility of greater disparities in the future, in the Secretary’s discretion, and also up to 50% in the case of tobacco use.

Wellness programs are big business – and big business seems to like them, investing significant amounts of money and promoting them both for their health improvement and cost reduction qualities. This new regulation sets the stage for even more spending on wellness programs.

Exhibit B: The RAND Health Workplace Wellness Programs Study was released — a work commissioned by the agencies responsible for this rule, and released in conjunction with the promulgation of the final regulations.

Blogging at Forbes.com, Dan Munro highlighted the early release of the report, its withdrawal and later reissuance, but more importantly distiled some key elements from the report and from other press coverage:

  • Participants lost an average of only 1 pound a year for 3 years
  • No significant reductions in total cholesterol levels
  • Some evidence of successful smoking cessation – but only “in the short term”
  • Statistically insignificant cost savings of $2.38/mo (year 1) and $3.46 (year 5)
  • Statistically insignificant reduction in cost or use of emergency department or hospital care

And fnally, a direct quote from the report:

Our statistical analyses suggest that participation in a wellness program over five years is associated with a trend toward lower health care costs and decreasing health care use. We estimate the average annual difference to be $157, but the change is not statistically significant.

So, what is to be done? (Relax, I’m not going to quote Lenin or Chernyshevsky.) Some would say that we need to take cold, hard look at the contemporary culture of corporate wellness programs, and synthesize something new in response to the realization that these things apparently don’t work consistently as advertised. See the recent post by Vik Khanna & Al Lewis at The Health Care Blog, in which they imagine themselves to be rogue GE shareholders and send Jeff Immelt a message about redesigning wellness programs. (As an aside: their point about corporate food service and the need to serve healthy foods is a point that should be taken to heart by all the health care conference planners who dish up decidedly unhealthful food and beverages.)

We’re still in search of the magic bullet – some incredible combination of long-term and short-term incentives packaged through game theory or otherwise to move us all to make behavioral changes that will improve our individual and collective health. And today’s mesage is: keep searching.

Federal regulations that give employers wider discretion in doling out economic incentives don’t help all that much in the long run if we still haven’t figured out just what exactly those incentives ought to be underwriting. The deep-seated belief in the power of wellness programs undergirds a variety of other policies as well — value-based purchasing models (including the ACO model), and the latest phase of Massachusetts health reform, for example.

In the short run, there is some evidence that this is just another cost-shifting game, where the costs of wellness programs are underwritten by less healthy folk. That’s not a really good idea to pursue long-term.

David Harlow
The Harlow Group LLC
Health Care Law and Consulting

TAGGED:corporate wellness programs
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Wellness

6 Shake Ingredients To Boost Your Immune System

January 1, 2019
chronic insomnia
eBookNewsSpecialtiesWellness

Chronic Insomnia: Review of Six Steps to Better Sleep

June 8, 2017

New Guide For Male Caregivers Available

August 15, 2011
Wellness

Firm or Soft Mattress – Which One Is the Better Choice?

September 1, 2018
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?