Judge upholds wellness program financial incentives

If your company provides financial incentives for participating in a wellness plan, you can breathe a little easier. A federal judge in Florida has ruled such practices don’t violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Your remember the case: It involved the Broward County, FL, health plan, which instituted a “voluntary” wellness plan in 2009.
Under the plan, employees were required to take a “finger stick” test — to produce a small blood sample to determine glucose and cholesterol levels — and complete an online health risk assessment.
The rub: Those employees who didn’t take part in the wellness protocols had to pay a $20 biweekly surcharge.
Employee Bradley Seff filed a lawsuit against Broward County, alleging that the wellness program wasn’t truly voluntary — and thus violated the ADA’s prohibition against employers demanding that workers undergo medical exams.
A federal district court judge granted class certification to county employees who had been paying the $20 surcharge.
But U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore dismissed the case, saying the county’s wellness program fell under the “safe harbor” provision of the ADA, according to Mike Tsikoudakis, writing on the Business Insurance website.
“It is clear to this court that the wellness program is not a subterfuge; it was not designed to evade the purpose of the ADA,” Tsikoudakis quotes from Moore’s ruling.
Could have crippled many wellness programs
Wellness programs have taken off across the U.S. as health costs have headed skyward over the past decade. It’s a sound approach — keeping employees healthy leads to lower claim levels, which should lead to lower premium costs.
If  the employer had lost this case — meaning they couldn’t use financial incentives to pump up participation —  it would have been a serious blow to many companies’ wellness initiatives.
Employers aren’t quite out of the woods yet — this decision could be appealed. But the fact that the district court dismissed the case is an encouraging sign.
Cite: Seff v. Broward County. For a look at the judge’s ruling, go here.