Kutak Rock employee benefits attorneys Brian Bartels and Cindy Davis conducted “Deep Dive” presentations at the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) Symposium August 8, 2018 in San Diego. Mr. Bartels’ presentation focused on wellness program requirements, recent relevant litigation, common mistakes, and ways to design and administer wellness programs for compliance. Ms. Davis, who is an ECFC board member, discussed data privacy under HIPAA, federal and state privacy laws, and best practices for complying with legal requirements and allocating data privacy risks.

Both attorneys stressed the important first step of understanding the various pertinent legal requirements, including recent and upcoming changes. Mr. Bartels’ audience gained valuable insight into common design and operations issues of wellness programs, and how to correct them. Key takeaways from Ms. Davis’ event were ways to allocate responsibility and risks for data privacy by contract and insurance, as well as how to review business practices to address data privacy requirements.

The ECFC is a nonprofit that promotes advocacy, education, advancement and innovation of tax-advantaged benefit programs. Mr. Bartels is a partner in the Omaha office and Ms. Davis is of counsel in the Minneapolis office. Both are members of the firm’s Employee Benefits Group.