The Wright Stuff
A message to the WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals family
You’ve seen the emails, articles, and website – and you know that it’s time to participate in the Wellness Rewards Program, a program that can save you money and help improve your overall health.
What you may not realize is that the Wellness Rewards Program, along with benefit open enrollment, which kicks off Wednesday, Nov. 1, is being launched system-wide. That means that all 13,000-plus benefit-eligible employees at all eight hospitals will participate in the same Wellness Rewards Program and have the same health benefits in 2018.
Being part of a system has many benefits, including improved quality of care for our patients. But one of the challenges has been the complexity and variation of our employee benefit programs. Up until now, each hospital has offered different benefits, which requires a lot of administration and creates inconsistency. We want to take advantage of our resources as a system, and unified benefits for all eligible WVU Medicine employees is part of that broader goal.
The first step in this year’s benefit open enrollment process is participation in the Wellness Rewards Program. It’s easy, really. And it’s an investment in your overall health. Just take the following steps:
- Complete an online wellness profile
- Indicate “tobacco status” on wellness profile
- Visit your physician for a preventive exam
- Complete a wellness screening
All steps, with the exception of the preventive exam, must be completed by Tuesday, Oct. 31. The preventive exam must occur before the end of the year.
If you meet all program requirements, you receive a reduction of either $500 for single coverage or $1,000 for all other coverage levels on your 2018 medical plan deductible and also avoid the tobacco surcharge. That’s a significant savings. You can visit hr.wvumedicine.org for complete details, including information on webinars and support sessions to get all of your questions answered.
There are a lot of benefit changes happening this year. Please take the time to be well-informed so that you can make the right decisions for you and your family.