Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Bank of America employees were required to pay higher health-insurance premiums, lost wellness incentives, or missed out on other health-plan benefits because a covered spouse or domestic partner did not complete certain wellness-program requirements.
Publicly available benefits materials indicate that Bank of America has offered wellness incentives for both employees and covered spouses or domestic partners. According to those materials, spouses or partners may have been asked to complete health questionnaires, health screenings, physical examinations, or primary-care-provider attestations in order for the household to receive the full available incentive.
These requirements may have included:
- requiring a spouse or domestic partner to complete a biometric screening;
- requiring a spouse or domestic partner to complete a health-risk assessment or medical questionnaire;
- requiring a spouse or domestic partner to obtain a physical examination or provider attestation;
- collecting health information from a covered spouse or partner;
- requiring both members of the household to participate before the full incentive was awarded;
- completing wellness activities by a specified deadline; or
- completing other spouse-related wellness requirements.
Federal law places limits on how employers and health plans may administer wellness programs that request medical information from employees and their spouses. Participants may be entitled to reasonable alternatives, clear notices, and appropriate authorizations before losing health-plan incentives because a spouse or partner declined to participate.
Additional protections may apply when a wellness program requires medical examinations, health questionnaires, disability-related information, or other protected health information from a covered spouse.
We Are Interested in Hearing From Current and Former Bank of America Employees Who:
- lost a wellness incentive because a spouse or domestic partner did not participate;
- were required to have a spouse or partner complete a biometric screening or health questionnaire;
- paid higher health-insurance premiums because a spouse or partner declined to participate;
- were not informed that a reasonable alternative was available;
- requested an alternative but were denied or delayed;
- completed an alternative but did not receive the full household incentive;
- were concerned about providing family medical information; or
- believe the wellness program was confusing, unfair, or difficult to complete.
You may have rights even if the financial consequence appeared as a “wellness surcharge,” “premium differential,” “standard premium,” “non-wellness rate,” or as the loss of an employee or spouse wellness incentive.
If you participated in Bank of America’s health plan and were affected by its spouse-related wellness program, please contact Migliaccio & Rathod LLP. There is no charge to speak with us, and there is no obligation to take legal action.
If you believe you encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call at (202) 470-3520.
Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that represents consumers and employees in class-action lawsuits nationwide.