I. Benefits Summaries for Prospective Employees

The benefits summaries have been updated for 2006, and you will find them in a new location on the OHR Web site. Go to the Manager’s Toolkit tab and under Information, click on DEBCPs. The summaries are valid for the calendar year, but if a change does occur, I will update the summaries and send you a notice.

This year I did not include the one-page, benefits flow chart. However, I will update it and add it to the Web site if you let me know that it was useful. I appreciate your comments about how you use the summaries. Please send your responses to me at b-gilc@umn.edu.

II. Summary of Benefits

This is the booklet that describes, among other things, eligibility provisions of the UPlan medical program, events that can cause you to lose coverage, your rights to continue coverage when you or your dependents are no longer eligible to participate in the Plan, and your rights to appeal a coverage decision or claim denial.

You’ll see an e-mail next week and then a letter to home addresses to announce that the booklet is available online and that printed copies are available, if desired. We provide a copy of the Summary of Benefits to new employees after they enroll in a medical plan.  

III. RxAmerica – new pharmacy manager

As you know, prescription drug benefits for all UPlan Medical Program members are provided through RxAmerica. Since it is a separate administrator, RxAmerica sends pharmacy member identification cards to new members. Please remind new employees that they will get a separate card so that they will know to hold on to their RxAmerica ID card. (If you did not keep your card, you can request a new one by calling RxAmerica at 1-866-918-7526.)

IV. Health Connections from UPlan Wellness continues to roll out

Since the launch of Health Connections in January, 100 to 150 UPlan Medical Program members per day are taking advantage of this new approach to wellness. Employees are eligible for financial rewards when they connect to a health coach to get motivational support over the phone to make lifestyle changes and manage disease or participate in web-based health improvement programs. The path to better health begins with a confidential, online wellness assessment.

UPlan Wellness is asking for your help in communicating the ins & outs/nuts & bolts of this new initiative. To that end, here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect to arrive soon via campus mail:

• Enlarged (11x17) invitation to participate in Health Connections (pdf). Please post.
• Ask Mayo Clinic 24/7 nurse line publicity materials (pdf). Please post and/or distribute.
• Health Connections (8.5x14) Flowchart – a diagram of the inner workings of the program and network of service providers involved in Health Connections (pdf).

Lastly, should you decide that you’d like to have someone from UPlan Wellness present an informational session about Health Connections to your department, contact well@umn.edu to schedule. Attached please find a template for a flyer that you may customize for your event (pdf).

The Health Connections Web site continues to be the one-stop, best resource for information about the wellness assessment and follow-up health improvement programs. However, if questions arise that cannot be answered by Harris HealthTrends, Inc., the administrator for Health Connections, please forward inquiries to UPlan Wellness at well@umn.edu.

V. Brown Bag Finance Luncheons

Brown Bag Finance Luncheons will be held each Wednesday in February from noon to 1 p.m. at 215 Donhowe. All employees are welcome, and registration is not required. Flyers will be sent to you electronically in the near future, one announcing each of the three remaining sessions—A Woman’s Money, The Power of Diversification, and Real Estate Investing. Please place a copy of the flyer in the mailbox of each employee in your area to help promote these events. For more information, contact Maggi Aitkens at 612-624-5866.

VI. COBRA Continuation Coverage

With the new plan year and medical options, we have new COBRA rates and information. Remember that it is the department’s responsibility to provide employees with COBRA information. If you have questions about who should receive COBRA continuation coverage, you may want to review the information on the Web. The memo about departmental responsibilities will be added to the DEBCPs information section in Manager’s Toolkit.

VII. Guide to Benefits Enrollment and other materials

Please make sure that new employees receive a copy of the Guide for UPlan Benefits Enrollment 2006 and, if on the Twin Cities campus, an invitation to the New Employee Orientation (NEO). Even with online enrollment and information on the Web site, it's still important for employees to have the Guide as a source for information on their full range of benefits. Also, remind employees about the Enrollment Worksheet on page 34 of the guide because they may find it helpful to write down the elections they plan to make before they go online to complete their enrollment.

If you need additional copies of the guide, the NEO invitations, or COBRA materials, please send in the request card or contact Katie Willer at 612-624-9775 or by e-mail at will0962@hr-mail.ohr.umn.edu.

Reminder

Should you leave a department, the University, or change jobs, please let us know so that we may update our database. And if you know who the replacement DEBCP will be, we would be happy to have that information.

Editor: Betty Gilchrist
Contact at b-gilc@umn.edu or 612-626-8653