Compliance February 14, 2008

EBSA Issues Checklist for Wellness Program Requirements

February 14, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) providing guidance to the agency's national and regional offices on final wellness program rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
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FAB 2008-02 provides guidance in the form of a checklist. The checklist includes examples and tips on the applicability of the wellness program rules and, if the rules apply, the five compliance criteria, the EBSA said in a news release.

The final rules, published in the Federal Register for December 13, 2006, govern the HIPAA provisions prohibiting discrimination based on a health factor for group health plans and issuers of health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group health plan. The rules list criteria for wellness programs that are not required to satisfy any additional standards to comply with the nondiscrimination provisions (See Feds Clarify HIPAA Rules for Wellness Rewards ).

FAB 2008-02 is here .

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