Dive Brief:

• AARP, a large advocacy group serving older Americans, has sued the EEOC over its new rules on wellness programs, The New York Times reports.
• AARP is seeking a preliminary injunction against the rules, claiming that still allowing for extensive incentives under the ACA threatens those who are unwilling to fill out health risks assessments or otherwise provide typically private health information for the sake of wellness programs.
• The wellness rules were originally created to provide guidance and smooth over confusion surrounding the ACA's wellness incentives rule and the health data protection rules within HIPAA, the ADA and GINA.

Dive Insight:

Concerns over health data privacy continue to confuse employers and employees alike. While many digital wellness tools promise that employers will only ever see aggregate data, that doesn't matter when an employer may require something more personal — aka, a biometric screening. The rules clarified the EEOC's stance, but employee advocates may be trying to draw a stricter line regarding wellness incentives and what is allowed.

Some of this may be a generational issue, as well. Millennials tend to prefer or even like wellness programs, while older generations may view it as an invasion or unnecessary alongside the other changes occurring in healthcare today.