New Tax Form(s) Under ACA

A new form (1095-C) will be arriving to your home address early April, from Northwell Health. The purpose of the form is to show the months in which you and your dependents were offered, or covered by, an employer sponsored health insurance plan. This information is reported to the IRS by your employer (Northwell Health). The 1095-C is for your records. This form states that you were covered (or not covered) under the employer sponsored plan.

To further explain, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) two new mandates were created:

1. Employer to send 1095-C Form to employees - save for your records 
2. Employer to send 1094-C Form to IRS

Note: the two forms contain the same information.

Union 

Employees covered by union multi-employer plans will receive 1095-B Form from the union and a 1095-C Form from Northwell Health.

Changes in the Annual Wellness Pledge Program

Each year the Wellness Pledge Program becomes a bit more robust, offering new options and resources to get you well, and keep you well. 

• The Health Assessment Pledge for You and Your Covered Spouse: As the gateway pledge, this pledge is the most important pledge of all. The health assessment (which is now called the Rally Health Survey on the United Healthcare portal) is a fun and easy way to get information about your health.
  Value and Buy-Up Plan members login to myuhc.com and click on the Rally Health Survey.
  CareConnect Employee Plan members login to access the Rally Health Survey here.
• The Financial Wellness Video Pledge: Designed to keep you in tune with your financial security in the future, this video pledge is currently in redesign and will be available to you mid-May. 
• New Pledge with the Feinstein Institute for Research: Employees now have a new option to gain credit towards the cost of their benefits by participating in clinical research. Pledge here.

Here's What You Can Do Now to Comply:

Schedule one or more preventive care appointments in 2016 prior to October 31, 2016, and you will be rewarded paycheck credits beginning with your first pay cycle in 2017:

1. Complete the Health Survey (this is re
2. Visit with your primary care physician and get a full physical 
3. Visit with your dentist and get an exam and cleaning 
4. Visit with your ophthalmologist for an eye exam 
5. Get screened for breast cancer with a mammography by Imaging
6. Get screened for skin cancer with a full body check by your dermatologist 
7. Get screened for cervical cancer with PAP Smear by your obstetrician/gynecologist
8. Get screened for colorectal cancer with a colonoscopy by Imaging
9. Have your covered spouse (if applicable) complete the Health Survey
10. Participate in the Feinstein GAP Registry

2017 Paycheck Credits for 2016 Pledge Actions
Complete all four pledges by October 31 and you will earn the maximum amount of paycheck credits in 2017 ($1,040). If you complete your pledge in November/December you will still receive the credits they will just be delayed by six to eight weeks, and you will not receive the maximum amount of credits.

If you have completed the pledges you will see the credit in each of your pay statements as follows:

• Semimonthly (paid on the 7th and 22nd of each month - 24 paychecks a year)- $10.83 for each pledge each pay cycle
• Biweekly (paid every other Thursday - 26 paychecks a year) - $10 for each pledge each pay cycle

We are happy to see that you are actively interested in this important program, keeping you in tune with your preventive care routine each year. 

Note: Newly hired employees will receive automatic credit for four Wellness Pledges. They will have six months to comply or their credits will cease.

How to Retrieve Your W-2 Form/Statement from Northwell Health

It's tax time -- and while you are busy gathering your receipts and checking in with your accountant, Northwell Health's payroll team assures you easy access to your W-2 Tax Statement. For the third year in row, Northwell has offered online access to your statement as early as January 15. All you have to do is:

1. Log in to Employee Self Service (use browser, Windows Internet Explorer on a computer, not phone, for best results)
2. Click on "Personal Information" tab
3. Click on the "Self Service" folder
4. Click on the "Payroll and Compensation" folder
5. Under Tax Information you will see "3 more..." click there
6. Then click on "View W-2 and W-2C Forms"
7. Click on "Year End Form"
8. Print, view, save your form

Note: If your 2015 W-2 Statement does not pop up - able to view and print - your popup blocker may be on. If this is the case, go to the top of your page (while still logged in) and click on "Tools". A menu will appear. Click on "Pop Up Blocker" and turn it off. Click on the "Year End Form" again, now you should be able to view, print and save your 2015 W-2 Tax Statement.

Additional Information about Accessing Your Statement
Northwell Health has made your W-2 Tax Statements available to you online since January 2014. While logged in you can view previous statements from years 2013 and 2014. If you opted out for a paper statement in the mail this year, or in previous years, your online version is the only version you will have access to. If you did not opt out for the paper statement - you should have received your 2015 Tax Statement in the mail by now. If you have misplaced your paper statement, simply retrieve your statement through Employee Self Service, as described above. The online version is just as authentic as the paper version.

Note: If you do not have access to a computer and "opted out" for the print/mail-to-home version (or you misplaced the print/mail-to-home version), contact your local site HR office for assistance.

Your Future
While money is on your mind, consider investing in your retirement by increasing your contribution to your 403(b)/401(k) retirement plan by at least one percent right now. Log in to Northwell.edu/myRetirement, select your Account, hit Manage>Contributions. Increasing your number by just one percent every year can really make a difference when it comes to your financially fit future!

New Tax Form

If  you did not have any health insurance coverage in 2015 - for the entire year, or at any point during the year - you will need to submit a 1095-C Form, when filing your 2015 taxes. Your 1095-C Tax Form will arrive in your home mailbox, from Northwell Health, on or around March 31, 2016. If this pertains to you, you will have to wait to file your taxes until you receive the form.

Note: Your W-2 Tax Statement is now available online when you log into Employee Self Service - just click on the Payroll and Compensation tab. 

Understanding the CareConnect Difference

What is CareConnect?
North Shore-LIJ CareConnect Insurance Company, Inc. (or CareConnect for short) is your plan administrator. It is fully-owned by Northwell Health, and is the first provider-owned commercial health insurance company in New York State. It was launched to make it easier for people to get and stay healthy, so it does things a little differently than most insurance companies.

In Person Customer Service
CareConnect stresses customer service. It has a walk-in Customer Care Center at 2200 Northern Blvd. in East Hills, where you can drop by any time between 8am and 5pm, Monday through Friday, to talk to a Customer Service Connector. A Service Connector can answer questions about your coverage, explain potential costs, even make your doctor, lab and x-ray appointments. Bring your kids along -- they will enjoy the crayons, games and books in the play area, while you get your tasks done.

On the Phone Customer Service
Don't feel like making the trip? Just pick up the phone - a Connector will be able to answer your questions or resolve your issue. Or try the CareConnect website, CareConnect.com, to take care of simple things like printing a temporary ID card, or checking the status of a claim.

CareConnect Providers
CareConnect can also simplify your life when it's time to see the doctor, thanks to its close relationship with the providers in the network -- which includes not just Northwell Health, but many other New York health systems: Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, Montefiore Health System in the Bronx and Westchester, Northern Westchester Hospital and Mount Kisco Medical Group also in Westchester are just to name a few. Keep in mind, although the network is large, the plan does not cover out-of-network care.

In addition to making appointments that fit your schedule, CareConnect will work closely with Northwell Health's Care Solutions to make sure you have all the support you need.

All of this and lower rates too! In fact, for many employees, CareConnect Northwell Health Employee Plan rates are lower than the Value Plan. To find out more, visit CareConnect.com, email questions@nslijcc.com or read about CareConnect in your 2016 Benefits Resource Guide.

Final Deadline for 2015 Wellness Pledges: Dec 31

Northwell Health believes in taking care of you, so you can better care of our patients!

North Shore-LIJ (soon to be Northwell Health) wants you to be aware of your preventive care routine all year long. By providing you with an excellent package of benefits, the Wellness Pledge Program was designed to keep you on track with a regular, annual, preventive care routine.

What You Need to Know 
If you were enrolled in the Value or Buy-Up medical plan in 2015 you still have the opportunity to earn paycheck credits in 2016, by participating in the Annual Wellness Pledge Program. The program is open on a annual calendar basis, giving you 12 months (January through December) to take action on four health-related events. In addition to completing a necessary online Health Assessment* you have the ability to act on three of the following pledges or healthy actions:

1. Annual exam with your primary care physician
2. Dental exam and cleaning
3. Vision exam
4. Breast cancer screening (mammography)
5. Skin cancer check
6. Colorectal cancer screening (colonscopy)
7. Cervical cancer screening (Pap Smear)
8. Health Assessment by your covered spouse (can be found when logged into myuhc.com)
9. Financial wellness video (can be found when logged into nslij.trsretire.com)

Once actions have been completed your date-of-service/completion is transferred from our carriers,United Healthcare, Cigna Dental, Davis Vision and Transamerica Retirement Solutions to your Wellness Summary when logged into Employee Self Service. It takes approximately six to eight weeks for this transfer to be complete.

Deadline

You have through December 31 to comply with the program, but your 2016 paycheck credits (worth $10 per pledge per biweekly paycheck, and $10.83 per semi-monthly) will be delayed by about two to three pay cycles and will not be retroactive. 

Note: throughout 2015, participants were communicated a soft deadline of October 31 to earn maximum amount of 2016 credits. 

*The online Health Assessment is 100% confidential and necessary to earn any paycheck credits in 2016. Login to myuhc.com, click on the blue bar on the right side of the page, answer the questions to the best of your ability and hit submit. 

2016 Benefits Open Enrollment is November 30

Let's Make It Easy! 

Consider Where You Live
North Shore-LIJ is offering a a new medical plan option through our own insurance company, CareConnect. CareConnect offers coverage only through their own network, but their network is BIG - 20,000 providers and growing: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Westchester and Eastern Long Island . Look here

Consider Childcare and Elder Care Expenses 
When Open Enrollment rolls around be sure to keep in mind what you pay out for daycare, camp and after-school expenses for a child under the age or 13, as well what you pay for providing care for an aging parent. North Shore-LIJ (soon to be Northwell Health) has partnered with WageWorks to help you save on this overwhelming dependent care expense through pre-taxed payroll deduction, called the Dependent Flexible Spending Account. Check it out on WageWork.com

Consider Your Disability Plan
You may want to consider buying up your disability plan. Employees are automatically enrolled into a 50% Short-Term Plan once hired through the health system. Consider "buying up" during Open Enrollment and you will be covered at 60% of your base pay up to $2,000 per week. Evidence of Good Health will be required.

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