Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Saint Louis University employees were required to pay higher health-insurance premiums, lost wellness discounts, or missed out on other health-plan benefits because their covered spouse did not complete certain wellness-program requirements.
Publicly available benefits materials indicate that Saint Louis University offers separate monthly wellness discounts for employees and covered spouses. To receive the maximum available discount, both the employee and covered spouse reportedly may be required to complete specified wellness activities, including health questionnaires, biometric screenings, or other health-related requirements.
These requirements may have included:
- allowing a spouse to complete a biometric screening;
- requiring a spouse to complete a health-risk assessment or medical questionnaire;
- requiring a spouse to participate in wellness coaching or other wellness activities;
- collecting health information from a spouse;
- submitting wellness information by a particular deadline;
- requiring both the employee and spouse to participate before the household could receive the full discount; or
- completing other spouse-related wellness requirements.
Federal law places limits on how employers and health plans may use wellness programs that request medical information from employees and their spouses. In some circumstances, employees may be entitled to clear notice, appropriate authorizations, and reasonable alternatives before losing health-plan incentives because a spouse declined to participate.
Additional protections may apply when a wellness program requests 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 Saint Louis University Employees Who:
- lost a wellness discount because a spouse did not participate;
- were required to have a spouse complete a biometric screening or health questionnaire;
- paid higher health-insurance premiums because a spouse 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 discount;
- 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,” “non-wellness rate,” “standard premium,” or as the loss of an employee or spouse wellness discount.
If you participated in Saint Louis University’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.