One provision of the Public Health Service Act (Section 2705(m)(1)),
as amended by the Affordable Care Act, directs that the Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in consultation with the Secretaries
of the Treasury and Labor, gather relevant information from employers who provide
employees with access to wellness programs, including state and federal agencies,
and submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress concerning: (1) the effectiveness of wellness programs; (2) the impact of such wellness programs on the access to care
and affordability of coverage for participants and non-participants of such programs; (3) the impact of premium-based and cost-sharing incentives on participant behavior and the
role of such programs in changing behavior; and (4) the effectiveness of different types of rewards.
This report, based on a study by RAND, fulfills this provision.