Wellness Programs and Health Care Reform 

Employers are increasingly turning to wellness programs as a way to control health care costs and improve employee engagement and productivity. However, a number of laws dictate what employers may, must, and may not do when designing and implementing these programs. Regulations issued last year have only added to the complexity. Employers offering or considering a wellness program need to understand the rules.

In this 90-minute intermediate level webinar we will discuss:

• The types of wellness programs that must follow the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules
• The different kinds of health-contingent programs
• Limits on allowable wellness incentives and penalties, and how to calculate them
• Reasonable alternative requirements, and ways to satisfy them
• Whether you can have smoker and non-smoker rates without a formal wellness program
• How GINA and the ADA affect wellness programs
• Taxation of wellness incentives

PRESENTERS
Joseph J. Lazzarotti, Shareholder, Jackson Lewis P.C.
Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a Shareholder in the Morristown, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He leads the Firm's Privacy, Social Media and Information Management Practice. He also is a member of the Employee Benefits Counseling and Litigation Practice Group and is a member of the Firm's Healthcare Reform Taskforce. Mr. Lazzarotti advises employers and plan sponsors regarding the establishment, administration, and operation of fully insured and self-funded health and welfare plans, which includes counseling concerning the new reform law, as well as assisting in the set-up of administrative and other arrangements with third-party administrators, claims administrators and other vendors.

Joseph J. Lynett, Shareholder, Jackson Lewis P.C.
Joseph J. Lynett is a Shareholder in the White Plains, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and a member and regional coordinator of the Firm's Disability, Leave and Health Management Practice Group. Mr. Lynett defends employers, business, and educational institutions in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education involving claims of disability discrimination arising under federal, state, and local law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, and similar state and local disability discrimination and public accommodation laws.