Corporate wellness programs are meant to let everyone win: The worker receives incentives for becoming healthier, while the employer lessens its health insurance costs.
But a hospital’s 2017 wellness program at CharterCARE Health Partners (Prospect CharterCARE) that offered participating workers a discount on health premiums violated labor agreements, a judge ruled Monday.
United Nurses & Allied Professionals Inc. filed grievances that said the deal meant a $50 increase for non-participating employees, rather than a discount for participation. A labor agreement prohibited benefit changes that increased out-of-pocket costs by a specific amount. An arbitrator, and a federal judge, agreed that the wellness deal violated that agreement.
The judge also upheld the arbitrator’s decision rejecting new limits on vision and dental benefits for the spouses of Prospect employee spouses.
