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Alcohol Treatment - Who pays?

updedbqupdedbq 1 Post
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
When an employer makes a manager referral for treatment of alcohol it is covered by the insurance plan. However there is a rather large co-insurance that is the responsibility of the employee.

Since we required the employee to take the treatment are we also required to pay for the treatment.

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  • 4 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • mwild31mwild31 1,441 Posts
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    Unless your policies say otherwise or past precedent has been set, no, you are not required to pay.

    The employee lucked out in this case. Because you guys are recognizing the alcohol issue and have "required" the employee to enroll in a treatment program - this employee is now covered by all of the protections of the ADA. That said, if your organization is serious about helping this employee get better, you could spot them an advance to pay for the treatment (I'm not a fan of this at all, but it is an option). I've had an employee in the past take a loan from their 401(k) to pay for the expenses - it qualified as a hardship.
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  • RoadKingRoadKing 15 Posts
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    Whether we refer the employee to the EAP for fitness for duty or the employee makes a self-referral we allow the employee to use his or her Health Care benefits and compensated leave. Our policy clearly states all out-of-pocket expenses related to the treatment are covered by the employee. The employer is not required to pay for any portion of the treatment as far as I know.
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  • SMaceSMace 1,481 Posts
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    The puddle you stepped in is referring him because of alcohol. Then you fall into the trap wild advised. You refer them for poor job performance and you step right over that puddle.
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  • davidsdavids 427 Posts
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    You should check your state's labor law. In my state, the employer is required to pay for medical evaluations that they require of the employee. However, the way we set it up is to require the employee to be evaluated and then give him the choice of complying with treatment recommendations or being terminated. In that scenario, we would pay only for the initial evaluation. Costs of the follow up treatment that are not covered by our insurance plan would be the responsibility of the employee.
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