Notice Regarding Wellness Program For Employees
Curative’s wellness program is a voluntary wellness program available to all employees. Employees who choose to participate in Curative’s wellness program and who complete a Baseline Visit within 120 days after enrollment will continue to receive $0 copays, $0 deductibles, and 0% coinsurance (the “cost reduction”) for most In-Network services after the first 120 days of enrollment in the Curative Plan. Although you are not required to complete the Baseline Visit, only employees who do so will receive the cost reduction after the first 120 days of enrollment.
The Baseline Visit is an in-person meeting with a Curative Clinician that includes a health risk assessment (e.g., questionnaire) and a biometric screening that may include a comprehensive metabolic panel and a lipid profile.
As part of the Baseline Visit, you will be asked to complete a written questionnaire or answer questions during your in-person meeting about your health-related activities and behaviors and whether you have or had certain medical conditions (e.g., cancer, diabetes, or heart disease). You are not required to answer questions on the questionnaire or during the Baseline Visit regarding disabilities or genetic information in order to qualify for the cost reduction. The questions that you are not required to answer in order to qualify for the cost reduction are identified on the questionnaire. Specifically, you are not required to provide responses to the following sections of the Baseline Visit questionnaire in order to receive the cost reduction:
Family Medical History
Reproductive Genetic History
Adult Genetic Testing
Pediatric Genetic Testing
Other Genetic Questions
In addition, you are not required to provide genetic information, undergo genetic testing, or complete lab work that could identify genetic information during the Baseline Visit, in order to qualify for the cost reduction. “Genetic information” as defined by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”), includes the results of an individual’s or family member’s genetic tests and the individual’s family medical history.
The wellness program is administered according to federal rules permitting employer-sponsored wellness programs that seek to improve employee health or prevent disease, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), GINA, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), as applicable, among others. The medical exam portion of the Baseline Visit is part of the Curative health plan and is designed, in part, to develop present and future benefits, programs, and plans using accepted principles of risk assessment in accordance with the ADA.
The information from your Baseline Visit will be used to provide you with information to help you understand your current health and potential risks, and may also be used to offer you services through the wellness program or health plan. You also are encouraged to share your results or concerns with your own doctor.
Employers are also required by the ADA to describe restrictions on the disclosure of the employee’s medical information collected during the Baseline Visit, the employer representatives with whom the information may be shared, and the methods the employer will use under the to ensure that medical information is not properly disclosed. There is a model notice that the EEOC has published. If you think that employers will be relying on you to make this disclosure, we can include a version of it to the extent you are comfortable making all/some of the representations in it.
Protections from Disclosure of Medical Information
We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your personally identifiable health information. Although the wellness program and [name of employer] may use aggregate information it collects to design a program based on identified health risks in the workplace, [name of wellness program] will never disclose any of your personal information either publicly or to the employer, except as necessary to respond to a request from you for a reasonable accommodation needed to participate in the wellness program, or as expressly permitted by law. Medical information that personally identifies you that is provided in connection with the wellness program will not be provided to your supervisors or managers and may never be used to make decisions regarding your employment.
Your health information will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or otherwise disclosed except to the extent permitted by law to carry out specific activities related to the wellness program, and you will not be asked or required to waive the confidentiality of your health information as a condition of participating in the wellness program or receiving an incentive. Anyone who receives your information for purposes of providing you services as part of the wellness program will abide by the same confidentiality requirements. The only individual(s) who will receive your personally identifiable health information is (are) [indicate who will receive information such as "a registered nurse," "a doctor," or "a health coach"] in order to provide you with services under the wellness program.
In addition, all medical information obtained through the wellness program will be maintained separate from your personnel records, information stored electronically will be encrypted, and no information you provide as part of the wellness program will be used in making any employment decision. [Specify any other or additional confidentiality protections if applicable.] Appropriate precautions will be taken to avoid any data breach, and in the event a data breach occurs involving information you provide in connection with the wellness program, we will notify you immediately.
You may not be discriminated against in employment because of the medical information you provide as part of participating in the wellness program, nor may you be subjected to retaliation if you choose not to participate.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this notice, or about protections against discrimination and retaliation, please call 888-702-9042.