Beneficiaries got a gift from the administration in the form of increased financial incentives for participating in wellness programs offered by their group health plans, part of a final rule from the Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor and the Internal Revenue Service released May 29. The final rule increased the maximum permissible reward for participating in a health-contingent wellness plan from 20 percent to 30 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage, and increased the maximum reward to 50 percent for participating in wellness programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use.

The final rule also provided clarification as to what constitutes a wellness program, breaking it into two categories. Health-contingent wellness programs require beneficiaries to satisfy a health outcome to qualify for a reward, while participatory wellness programs either do not provide a reward or do not require beneficiaries to satisfy any particular health conditions to qualify for a reward.

Health-contingent wellness programs were further broken down into two sub-categories, activity-based and outcome-based. The final rule said health plans offering wellness programs in either of these sub-categories must have a reasonable alternative standard available to beneficiaries who can't meet an outcome-based standard. The final rule will be published in the June 3 Federal Register, and will be effective for health care plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014.