Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) wellness regulations will be vacated on Jan. 1, 2019, Reuters reports.
• A federal judge had already determined that the regulations, which address employer wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, weren't properly justified. He declined, however, to vacate the rules immediately, citing the potential for "disruptive consequences" for employers.
• The judge instructed EEOC to go back to the drawing board, and the agency said it would have a draft ready in August 2018. Final rules, however, are not expected until October 2019.

Dive Insight:

EEOC's regs were an attempt to clarify the requirement that wellness programs be "voluntary" — specifically, at what point a financial incentive renders a program involuntary.

In the existing regulations, the commission sets the limit at 30% of the cost of coverage. It remains to be seen what financial limit the new rulemaking might contain, whether new leadership might change the agency's direction, and whether the date set by the court might lead EEOC to adjust its timeline.