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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
WASHINGTON—New Internal Revenue Service rules implementing sections of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 could put employers' plans to use financial incentives for completion of health risk assessments in jeopardy.
The GINA modifications to the Internal Revenue Code add prohibitions against discrimination based on genetic information to Subtitle K, which covers group health plan requirements originally regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The interim final rules, which are slated to take effect in 60 days, will affect group health plans for plan years beginning on or after Dec. 7.
This could be especially problematic for employers that have started or are about to begin open enrollment for 2010, according to Andy Anderson, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. in Chicago.
“With 2010 designs already in place, these rules are going to make it difficult for employers to scramble to change plan designs (that incorporate financial incentives for completing HRAs) in the next month or two,” he said.
“Family medical history plays an important role in health risk assessments,” he noted. “To get people to fill out HRAs, many employers had to provide financial incentives. As feared, these regulations say the type of HRA that includes family medical history cannot have financial incentives associated with it.”
The regulations “also prohibit even the collection of genetic information prior to enrollment, so even employers that don't have incentives could be impacted,” observed Richard Stover, a principal at Buck Consultants L.L.C. based in Secaucus, N.J.
Although the rules are slated to take effect 60 days after their Oct. 1 publication date, the IRS will accept comments on them, as well as any requests for a public hearing, until Jan. 5, 2010.
The text of the interim final rule is available at www.federalregister.gov.