Can We Legally Pay People for Being Good? A Review of Current Federal and State Law on Wellness Program Incentives
Open Access
- 1 August 2012
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing
- Vol. 49 (3), 268-277
- https://doi.org/10.5034/inquiryjrnl_49.03.03
Abstract
Incentives to participate in wellness programs or reach health-related targets are becoming popular, but might expose employers and insurers to litigation risk because incentives might violate state and federal insurance, anti-discrimination, or privacy laws. This paper reviews relevant state and federal law, as well as case law and secondary literature. Findings suggest that convergence of state and federal law and recent court decisions have clarified the range of permissible incentives so that litigation risk under bona fide wellness programs seems limited.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UKThe Lancet, 2011
- Effects of Diet and Physical Activity Interventions on Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Severely Obese AdultsJAMA, 2010
- Thyroid and Obesity: An Intriguing RelationshipJournal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2010
- Workplace Wellness Programs Can Generate SavingsHealth Affairs, 2010
- Health Risk Reduction Programs in Employer-Sponsored Health Plans: Part II—Law and EthicsJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2009
- Wellness Programs and Lifestyle Discrimination — The Legal LimitsThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2008
- The Financial Burden of Overweight and Obesity among Elderly Americans: The Dynamics of Weight, Longevity, and Health Care CostHealth Services Research, 2007
- Promising Practices in Employer Health and Productivity Management Efforts: Findings From a Benchmarking StudyJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2007
- Why Have Americans Become More Obese?Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2003
- Causes of obesity.The Lancet, 2001