Important Documents

Pace Industries wellness program is a voluntary wellness program. The 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, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as applicable, among others. If you choose to participate in the wellness program you may be asked to complete a voluntary personal health assessment or that asks a series of questions about your health-related activities and behaviors and whether you have or had certain medical conditions (e.g., cancer, diabetes, or heart disease). You may also be asked to complete a biometric screening, which will include a blood test which can provide information on conditions like hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and others. You are not required to complete the health assessment or to participate in the blood test or other medical examinations.

However, employees who choose to participate in the wellness program can receive an incentive which reduces medical premiums and/or provides a contribution by Pace Industries to a health-related account. Although you are not required to complete the health assessment or participate in the biometric screening, only employees who do so will receive an incentive. Additional incentives may also be available for employees who participate in certain health-related activities during the year or achieve certain health outcomes.

If you are unable to participate in any of the health-related activities or achieve any of the health outcomes required to earn an incentive, you may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation or an alternative standard. You may request a reasonable accommodation or an alternative standard by contacting Pace Industries Health Enhancement Coordinator.

The information from your health assessment and the results from your biometric screening 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, such as condition management programs. You also are encouraged to share your results or concerns with your own doctor.

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your personally identifiable health information. Although the wellness program and Pace Industries may use aggregate information it collects to design a program based on identified health risks in the workplace, the wellness program will never disclose any of your personal information either publicly or to Pace Industries, 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) health coaches or others directly involved in the wellness program 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. 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.

This notice is intended to inform you of the privacy practices followed by the Pace Industries Medical Plans (the Plan) and the Plan’s legal obligations regarding your protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The notice also explains the privacy rights you and your family members have as participants of the Plan. It is effective on 10/1/2014.

The Plan often needs access to your protected health information in order to provide payment for health services and perform plan administrative functions.  We want to assure the participants covered under the Plan that we comply with federal privacy laws and respect your right to privacy.  Pace Industries requires all members of our workforce and third parties that are provided access to protected health information to comply with the privacy practices outlined below.

Your protected health information is protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Generally, protected health information is information that identifies an individual created or received by a health care provider, health plan or an employer on behalf of a group health plan that relates to physical or mental health conditions, provision of health care, or payment for health care, whether past, present or future.

How We May Use Your Protected Health Information
Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, we may use or disclose your protected health information for certain purposes without your permission. This section describes the ways we can use and disclose your protected health information.

Payment. We use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization in order to determine eligibility for benefits, seek reimbursement from a third party or the Plan, or coordinate benefits with another health plan under which you are covered. For example, a health care provider that provided treatment to you will provide us with your health information.  We use that information in order to determine whether those services are eligible for payment under our group health plan.

Health Care Operations.  We use and disclose your protected health information in order to perform plan administration functions such as quality assurance activities, resolution of internal grievances, and evaluating plan performance. For example, we review claims experience in order to understand participant utilization and to make plan design changes that are intended to control health care costs.

However, we are prohibited from using or disclosing protected health information that is genetic information for our underwriting purposes.

Treatment. Although the law allows use and disclosure of your protected health information for purposes of treatment, as a health plan we generally do not need to disclose your information for treatment purposes. Your physician or health care provider is required to provide you with an explanation of how they use and share your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.

As permitted or required by law. We may also use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization for other reasons as permitted by law. We are permitted by law to share information, subject to certain requirements, in order to communicate information on health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you, respond to a court order, or provide information to further public health activities (e.g., preventing the spread of disease) without your written authorization. We are also permitted to share protected health information during a corporate restructuring such as a merger, sale, or acquisition. We will also disclose health information about you when required by law, for example, in order to prevent serious harm to you or others.

Pursuant to your Authorization. When required by law, we will ask for your written authorization before using or disclosing your protected health information. Uses and disclosures not described in this notice will only be made with your written authorization. Subject to some limited exceptions, your written authorization is required for the sale of protected health information and for the use or disclosure of protected health information for marketing purposes. If you choose to sign an authorization to disclose information, you can later revoke that authorization to prevent any future uses or disclosures.

To Business Associates. We may enter into contracts with entities known as Business Associates that provide services to or perform functions on behalf of the Plan. We may disclose protected health information to Business Associates once they have agreed in writing to safeguard the protected health information. For example, we may disclose your protected health information to a Business Associate to administer claims. Business Associates are also required by law to protect protected health information.

To the Plan Sponsor. We may disclose protected health information to certain employees of Pace Industries for the purpose of administering the Plan. These employees will use or disclose the protected health information only as necessary to perform plan administration functions or as otherwise required by HIPAA, unless you have authorized additional disclosures. Your protected health information cannot be used for employment purposes without your specific authorization.

Federal regulations require Pace Industries to provide the following important notices to all employees on an annual basis:

Pace Industries’ medical plan, as required by  the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998, provide benefits for mastectomy-related services.  These services include:

• All stages of reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy was performed
• Surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to produce a symmetrical appearance
• Prostheses and treatment of physical complications resulting from mastectomy (including lymphedema)

This coverage will be provided in consultation with the attending physician and the patient, and will be subject to the same annual deductible and coinsurance provisions that apply to the mastectomy.  For more information, contact your medical plan provider.

If you are declining enrollment for yourself or your dependents (including your spouse) because of other health insurance coverage, you may be able to enroll yourself and your dependents in Pace Industries’ health plan if you or your dependents lose eligibility for that other coverage (or if the employer stops contributing towards you or your dependents’ other coverage.)  However, you must request enrollment within 31 days after you or your dependent’s other coverage ends (or after the employer stops contributing toward the other coverage.)

Loss of eligibility includes but is not limited to:
Loss of eligibility for coverage as result of ceasing to meet the plan’s eligibility requirements (i.e. legal separation, divorce, cessation of dependent status, death of an employee, termination of employment, reduction in the number of hours of employment);

Elimination of the coverage option a person was enrolled in, and another option is not offered in its place;

Reaching the plan’s lifetime benefit maximum on all benefits, if the person is covered under a separate plan or a single plan with multiple options under separate plan or single plan with multiple options and the other option has a higher lifetime maximum, or the benefits paid under the first option were not integrated with the second option;

Failing to return from an FMLA leave of absence; and Loss of coverage under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Unless the event giving rise to your special enrollment right is a loss of coverage under Medicaid or CHIP, you must request enrollment within 30 days after you or your dependent’s other coverage ends (or the employer that sponsors that coverage stops contributing toward the coverage).

If the event giving rise to your special enrollment right is a loss of coverage under Medicaid or the CHIP, you may request enrollment under this plan within 60 days of the date you or your dependent(s) lose such coverage under Medicaid or CHIP determine that you or the dependent(s) qualify for the subsidy.

In addition, if you have a new dependent as a result of marriage, birth, adoption, or placement for adoption, you may be able to enroll yourself and your dependents. However, you must request enrollment within 30 days after the marriage, birth, adoption, or placement for adoption.  To request special enrollment or obtain more information, contact Human Resources at 479-973-2113.

PART A: General Information
When key parts of the health care law take effect in 2014, there will be a new way to buy health insurance: the Health Insurance Marketplace. To assist you as you evaluate options for you and your family, this notice provides some basic information about the new Marketplace and employment based health coverage offered by your employer.

What is the Health Insurance Marketplace?
The Marketplace is designed to help you find health insurance that meets your needs and fits your budget. The Marketplace offers “one-stop shopping” to find and compare private health insurance options. You may also be eligible for a new kind of tax credit that lowers your monthly premium right away. Open enrollment for health insurance coverage through the Marketplace begins in October 2016 for coverage starting as early as January 1, 2017.

Can I Save Money on my Health Insurance Premiums in the Marketplace?
You may qualify to save money and lower your monthly premium, but only if your employer does not offer coverage, or offers coverage that doesn’t meet certain standards. The savings on your premium that you’re eligible for depends on your household income.

Does Employer Health Coverage Affect Eligibility for Premium Savings through the Marketplace?
Yes. If you have an offer of health coverage from your employer that meets certain standards, you will not be eligible for a tax credit through the Marketplace and may wish to enroll in your employer’s health plan. However, you may be eligible for a tax credit that lowers your monthly premium, or a reduction in certain cost-sharing if your employer does not offer coverage to you at all or does not offer coverage that meets certain standards. If the cost of a plan from your employer that would cover you (and not any other members of your family) is more than 9.5% of your household income for the year, or if the coverage your employer provides does not meet the “minimum value” standard set by the Affordable Care Act, you may be eligible for a tax credit.¹

Note: If you purchase a health plan through the Marketplace instead of accepting health coverage offered by your employer, then you may lose the employer contribution (if any) to the employer-offered coverage. Also, this employer contribution – as well as your employee contribution to employer-offered coverage – is often excluded from income for Federal and State income tax purposes. Your payments for coverage through the Marketplace are made on an after-tax basis.

How Can I Get More Information?
The Marketplace can help you evaluate your coverage options, including your eligibility for coverage through the Marketplace and its cost. Please visit HealthCare.gov for more information, including an online application for health insurance coverage and contact information for a Health Insurance Marketplace in your area.

¹ An employer-sponsored health plan meets the “minimum value standard” if the plan’s share of the total allowed benefit costs covered by the plan is no less than 60 percent of such costs.

If the cost of a plan from your employer that would cover you (and not any other members of your family) is more than 9.5% of your household income for the year, or if the coverage your employer provides does not meet the “minimum value” standard set by the Affordable Care Act, you may be eligible for a tax credit.¹

Note: If you purchase a health plan through the Marketplace instead of accepting health coverage offered by your employer, then you may lose the employer contribution (if any) to the employer-offered coverage. Also, this employer contribution -as well as your employee contribution to employer-offered coverage- is often excluded from income for Federal and State income tax purposes. Your payments for coverage through the Marketplace are made on an after-tax basis.

• PPO Plan
• CDHP Plan
• COE Plan