title: Using reporting requirements to improve employer wellness incentives and their regulation.
abstract: Employer interest in offering financial incentives for healthy behaviors has been increasing. Some employers have begun to tie health plan-based rewards or penalties to standards involving tobacco use or biometric measures such as body mass index. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act attempts to strike a balance between the potential benefits and risks of wellness incentive programs by permitting these incentives but simultaneously limiting their use. Evidence about the implications of the newest generation of incentive programs for health, health costs, and burdens on individual employees will be critical for informing both private and public decision makers. After describing the many pieces of information that would be valuable for assessing these programs, this article proposes more narrowly targeted reporting requirements that could facilitate incentive program development, evaluation, and oversight.
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Madison
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Kevin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Volpp
mesh_terms: D004282:Documentation; D015438:Health Behavior; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011050:Policy Making; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace