WPS Benefit News
HOLIDAY EDITION: DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021
In This Issue:
- January: The Perfect Time to Reset Wellness Goals
- Being a Smart Consumer with your Health Insurance
- Live Inspired: Healthy Boundaries
Embracing Life's Challenges: The Expected & The Unexpected (FREE Webinar)
District Extends COVID Leave Coverage Through May 2021
Happy Holidays from Employee Benefits!
January: The Perfect Time to Reset Wellness Goals
Each January, millions of people make New Year's Resolutions. Goals give us something to strive for and aspire to for the coming year. Consider starting the new year with a free gift to yourself and a goal easily within your reach: achieving your basic wellness visits in 2021.
Many insurance plans run on a date to date basis, meaning if you have an annual physical and labs with your primary care provider on October 1, 2020, you could not have another such visit until 366 days later. With the USD 259 district health insurance with Meritain, vision plan with Eyemed, and dental plan with Delta: wellness activities run on a calendar year basis. That means, on January 1st, you are eligible for any wellness visit on the plan for the coming calendar year.
Wellness points were met for all employees for the 2021 calendar year; however, when we go to enroll in fall of 2021, in order to have the wellness discount for the 2022 calendar year applied, wellness points will need to have been met with activities between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021. Consider planning out your visits now to ensure you meet that goal, both for financial savings and for your health.
Wellness visits covered at 100% with an in-network provider on your Meritain health plan without any co-pay include:
- your annual physical with labs with your primary care provider,
- well woman or well man visit
- mammogram
- CDC-recommended vaccines including the flu shot and pneumonia vaccine
- colonoscopy
If you are on the dental plan through Delta Dental, the plan covers two dental exams with cleanings per year with an in-network provider. The vision plan through Eyemed will cover one free annual eye exam with an in-network provider.
January includes national health awareness days focusing on cervical health for women, glaucoma, and thyroid issues, all issues that can be addressed through your wellness exams. Simple annual visits can detect serious issues earlier to result in better outcomes for your health, as well as financial savings to you.
Give the gift of free wellness to yourself this year.
Being a Smart Consumer with Your Health Insurance
Please note the following co-pays for each of the services listed below in the chart. These co-pays are based on in-network providers.
- Telemedicine via Teladoc: $15 co-pay
- Urgent care visits: $50 co-pay
- ER visits: $100 co-pay, subject to the deductible and to 30% co-insurance
Live Inspired: Healthy Boundaries
1. Rehearse saying no. "That doesn't work for me this time" is a simple way to say no when we are not up to doing favors.
2. Be honest, but it's okay to be vague. "I already have a commitment that week" may be telling the truth without sharing all the details of being stretched too thin.
3. Focus on the good that will come from saying no, rather than the guilt. Then turn your attention and time to your needs and priorities. They are connected to changing your beliefs about what you deserve. Set the limits you need in your life at your own pace.
Source: 2021 Live Inspired Calendar
Embracing Life's Challenges: The Expected & The Unexpected
Free Webinar
Life throws you a curve ball - now what? Take charge by embracing the challenge and incorporating the setback into your daily life. Adversity in life is inevitable whether the circumstances are death, illness, divorce, job loss, financial or deployment.
This webinar will provide encouragement and resources necessary to "reboot" by using thought-provoking ideas and examples to guide the audience to ultimately embrace the hardship and face the future one day at a time.
Webinars can be found below the Resource Library under Check Out Our Webinars.
Click here to access the webinar (this link allows you to skip the login page)
Investing in Staff: District Extends COVID Leave Coverage Through May 2021
If you missed it, a ZALL e-mail was sent out on December 15, 2020 sharing the district's desire to continue to support and invest in staff by continuing leave coverage for COVID reasons through May 2021.
While the federal act under FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response Act) expires on December 31, 2020, the district made the decision to continue to extend leave coverage for COVID-related situations through the end of the school year. Should the Department of Labor extend or add a new act, we would follow that guidance.
We will continue to provide the same coverage as had been provided under the FFCRA; however, the leave will no longer be coded as FMLA (Family Medical Leave) due to the act having expired.
Please note the following helpful contacts for your COVID situations:
- Reporting new COVID situations: Click Here (or type in https://bit.ly/3gdEbbu) to complete the online COVID-19 form or call the hotline at (316) 833-0074.
- Following up on your existing COVID claim: If you have questions about pay, forms, or return to work information, contact the COVID email box at covidhotline@usd259.net.
- Testing information: If you are symptomatic and need to set up testing with the AMAC nursing team, call (316)469-3595. For asymptomatic employees, we can set up testing for you at the time of your COVID intake call to the hotline.
The testing center will be closed after Friday, December 18, 2020 and will reopen again on Monday, January 4, 2021.
The COVID hotline will have limited hours over winter break with phones closing at 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday, December 23, 2020 and checked on the following dates until we resume normal hours on January 4, 2021: Monday, December 28th; Tuesday, December 29th; Wednesday, December 30th; Saturday, January 2nd; and Sunday, January 3rd.
Happy Holidays from Employee Benefits!
Employee Benefits would like to extend a heartfelt wish to our employees and their families for a warm holiday. You are our purpose for what we do each and every day. It has been a year of many adjustments for all of us and we appreciate the grace and flexibility extended to us as we have navigated this new environment with you. 2020 has been a year that will go down in the memory books for all of us. We hope each of you finds time to relax and enjoy the magic of the season during the upcoming winter break. Even in dark times, we can find light.
Employee Benefits & Insurance Management
Danielle Dettmer
Functional Manager
HR/Employee Benefits & Insurance Management
Email: employeebenefits@usd259.net
Website: http://www.usd259.org/HumanResources
Location: 903 South Edgemoor Street, Wichita, KS, USA
Phone: 316-973-4581