Access to Benefits Under ADA

While the ADA contains a broad exemption for employee benefit plans, the exemption is not a total one. The Act prohibits an employer from discriminating against disabled employees in access to benefits. The EEOC's regulations expressly require employers to afford employees with disabilities ''equal access'' to whatever health insurance or other benefits coverage the employer provides to other employees. A benefit plan that classifies or limits coverage based on a disability alone, therefore, is prohibited by the ADA. Such a plan would run afoul of the Act's prohibition on ''limiting, segregating, or classifying'' an employee ''in a way that adversely affects the opportunities or status'' of the employee ''because of'' his or her disability.