Compare Plans in Advance

With most organization's Open Enrollment occurring in November,  North Shore-LIJ recognizes that you may be considering enrolling in your spouse's plan in 2015 and may need to make an educated decision - now - and not wait until December 3 (which is when North Shore-LIJ's Open Enrollment begins). That is why we have made the necessary information available to non-union employees and Lenox Hill Hospital/MEETH Registered Nurses on HealthPort>HR>Benefits.

For the Non-Union Population

Benefit Groups

• Benefit Group 1A generally refers to executives and physicians
• Benefit Group 1 generally refers to directors and AVPs
• Benefit Group 2 generally refers to managers and clinical mid-level providers
• Benefit Group 3 generally refers to staff-level employees

Location Reference

Another thing to keep in mind as you read through your Open Enrollment materials, the term "non-365" refers to employees who do not work in a facility that operates 24/7, 365 days a year. Non-365 employees receive the same healthcare benefits as an employee working in a hospital (referred to as a 365 Employee) with slightly different plans for disability, life insurance, and Paid Time Off. There in no "Non-365" status for physicians and executives.

Your 2015 Benefits - Simplified

Thanks for checking in on nslijbenefits.blogspot.com, your go-to place for Open Enrollment information - simplified. Over the next couple of weeks the Benefits Blog will share topics of interest surrounding your "non-union" benefits package.

Follow the Blog for Easy-to-Follow Information
A great way to make this information come right to your inbox  is to "Follow the Blog". All you have to do is submit your email address directly to the right of this paragraph. Every time a new article is posted you will be alerted with an introduction to that post. You can choose to read further or pass. Just another way of simplifying your Benefits during Open Enrollment!

Time Frame
2015 Benefits Open Enrollment is Wednesday, December 3 through Wednesday, December 17. At this time you will have access - on Employee Self Service - to enroll, re-enroll or waive your benefits with North Shore-LIJ.

What to Consider NOW
In preparation for Open Enrollment, take the time to review the 2015 North Shore-LIJ Plan Options, found on Employee Intranet>HR>Benefits. This is the only time of year you are eligible to update or newly enroll in the health administered plans.

Note: Qualifying Life Event, which is a change in martial or dependent status, allows you to make changes in your benefits at certain milestones in your life. If you have additional questions regarding Qualifying Life Events, contact your Site HR Office.

Enrollment Options with Carrier Links
Medical (with Express-Scripts): Value or Buy-Up with United Healthcare with Prescription
Dental: DPPO or DHMO with Cigna
Vision: One plan option with Davis Vision
Flexible Spending Accounts: Healthcare and Dependent Care FSAs with Wage Works
Disability: Automatic Short-Term 50% with The Hartford, options to "buy-up" with evidence of good health
Life Insurance: Automatic basic term life with Accidental Death and Dismemberment with Aetna, options to "buy-up" with evidence of good health

Compare the Cost
Compare these plans with those offered by your spouse's employer (if applicable) by viewing the 2015 Plan Rates and Costs, found on HealthPort-HR-Benefits.

The Gateway to Your Wellness Pledge Credits

If you are planning to enroll or re-enroll in the North Shore-LIJ Value or Buy-Up medical plan you are eligible to receive 2015 paycheck credits in exchange for completing an online Health Assessment and 3 additional health-related actions.

Health Assessment is the Gateway Pledge
It's not too late to complete the Health Assessment Pledge, which is the most important pledge. Without this pledge you are not eligible to receive paycheck credits for the others.
Example: Susan had a dental cleaning in March, an annual physical in June and a mammogram in August - if Susan completes the Gateway Pledge by October 31 she will receive the maximum amount of paycheck credits ($1,040) beginning with her first pay cycle in 2015. If Susan waits and does not complete her final Pledge until November or December - her paycheck credits will be delayed 4-8 weeks. If Susan ignores the Health Assessment altogether she will not receive paycheck credits for any pledges in 2015.

What are you waiting for? Complete your online HA now:

1. Visit myuhc.com
2. Register and log in with a username and password
3. Click on the Health Assessment tab on the right side of page
4. Register and login using the same username and password you used for myuhc.com
5. Answer security questions
6. Fill in the health information
7. Hit submit

The Health Assessment is 100% confidential. Your health information is housed by a third party provider, Optum Health and not shared with North Shore-LIJ Health System. The only information the health system receives is the date you submitted it.

Wellness Summary
The Health Assessment will appear on your Wellness Summary, the third Monday of the following month in which the HA was completed and submitted.

The Program's Goal
The Wellness Pledge Program's goal is to educate and engage participating employees about the importance of their preventive healthcare routine. The Program runs on an annual basis and requires health-related actions the year prior to the receipt of paycheck credits. New Hires and those new to the medical plan have six months to comply. Scroll down and read more about the Wellness Pledge Program, or visit HealthPort-HR-Benefits-2015 Wellness Pledge Program.

Now you are on your way to a healthier and wealthier new year!

October is Here!

Since the deadline for the Wellness Pledges have been extended that mammogram you scheduled for during Breast Cancer Awareness Month will be in accordance with the 2015 Wellness Pledge Program.
Let's review the Pledge deadlines:

• Complete the online Health Assessment on myuhc.com and 3 additional pledges by October 31 and you will receive your maximum paycheck credits beginning with the first pay cycle in 2015
• Complete the online Health Assessment on myuhc.com and 3 additional pledges after October 31 (in November/December) and your paycheck credits will still appear in 2015 but they will be delayed 4-8 weeks - keep in mind, they will not be retroactive!

What you can do NOW - if eligible for the Pledge Program*
Step One: 
Complete your online Health Assessment on myuhc.com - it's the gateway pledge and is required in order to receive any paycheck credits in 2015
Step Two: 
Watch the Wellness Video - it was posted on your iLearn Module for viewing and submission
Step Three: 
Schedule 2 appointments (pledges) before Oct 31 and you will receive full credits:
--Annual Exam or Physical
--Dental Exam and/or Cleaning
--Vision Exam
--Breast Cancer Screening/Mammography
--Skin Cancer Screening/Check with a Dermatologist
--Colorectal Cancer Screening

In Addition: 

If you currently have your spouse covered under our medical plan you are also eligible to receive credit if he/she completes the online Health Assessment on myuhc.com.

Read more by searching 2015 Wellness Pledge Program in the search box (upper right corner of this Blog) or click here.

*You must be a non-union benefits-eligible employee or a Lenox Hill Hospital RN who is planning to enroll of re-enroll in North Shore-LIJ's Value or Buy-Up medical plan with United Healthcare to be eligible for the paycheck credits. New hires and those new to the medical plan in 2015 will have 6 months from their benefit's eligibility date to comply with the Program. 

Wellness Pledge Program Extended

If you still have not completed your pledges and are having difficulty scheduling appointments or screenings in September, now you have a bit more time!

• Complete the four wellness pledges/actions by October 31 and your paycheck credits will begin with the first pay cycle in 2015. 
• Complete the pledges in November/December and you will receive your 2015 paycheck credits, but they will be delayed 4-8 weeks (or the first few pay cycles in January). These credits will not be retroactive, so do your best to complete all four pledges by 10/31!

Wellness All Year Long
The pledge extension has been opened up through December because the health system wants you to consider your preventive care routine all year long.

Give it Time!
If you are constantly checking your Wellness Summary to review the status of your pledges, remember it takes time for the providers to send in the claims, and it takes time for the claims to feed into the Wellness Summaries.

United Healthcare sends the claims to us the third Monday of every month so if you choose to do the Physician Wellness Visit in early August your date of service should be marked on your Summary after September 22 (remember September 1 was  legal holiday and did not count as the first Monday of the month).

If you took the time to take care of yourself, we'll take the time to take care of you!

Wellness Pledges for 2014 New Hires and Those New to the Plan in 2015

Are you considering enrolling (for the first time) in North Shore-LIJ's 2015 Value or Buy-Up medical plan through United Healthcare during Open Enrollment? Or perhaps you were recently hired and are looking at your benefit options in 2015. Either way, note that you have six months to complete these pledges. 

Wellness Pledge deadline for employees hired in 2014:

If you were hired in 2014 and currently enrolled in the 2014 Value or Buy-Up medical plan through United Healthcare you may have noticed four paycheck credits in your pay statement. That's because you we want your health experience at North Shore-LIJ to be a positive one. Now it's time for you to prepare for your health in 2015 by complying with the rest of the North Shore-LIJ family and complete your 2015 Wellness Pledges on time. Here's what you need to know:

• You have six months to comply with the 2015 Wellness Pledge Program starting from your benefits eligibility date
• Your benefits eligibility date is the first day of the month 32 days after your date of hire
• Example:-Your first day at North Shore-LI was June 16
  -You are eligible for benefits enrollment on August 1
  -Your 2015 Wellness Pledges are due in six months from August 1 - that would be January 31, 2015
• Up until that date of January 31 you will have received those first few paycheck credits in 2015
• If you do not complete your pledge actions by January 2015 - your credits will cease with the February pay cycle
• You are not expected to pay the health system back for those credits

Wellness Pledge deadline for employees who plan to enroll for the first time in the North Shore-LIJ Value or Buy-Up medical plan

Attention Lenox Hill Hospital Nurses:

• You have six months from the day your benefits become effective with North Shore-LIJ's medical plan to complete the four pledges - that would be June 30, 2015
• Up until that date of June 30 you will be receiving the paycheck credits each pay cycle
• If you do not complete your pledge actions by June 30 - your credits will cease with July's pay cycle
• You are not expected to pay the health system back for those credits

The health system hopes this newly designed Wellness Pledge Program will help to keep your preventive care at top of mind - not just when selecting your benefits - but all year long!

For more information about the Wellness Pledge Program, stay logged in and search "2015 Wellness Pledge Program" in the SEARCH THIS BLOG box in the upper right corner
or
visit HealthPort>Human Resources>Benefits>2015 Wellness Pledge Program>Wellness Pledge Toolkit for New Hires.

Wellness Summary on Employee Self Service

You are now able to view your Pledge compliance on ESS. Notice that the online Health Assessment is listed first and in bold due to the mandatory completion requirements. If you do not complete and submit the online Health Assessment Pledge prior to December 31, you will not receive any paycheck credits for you other pledges.

The summary shows the pledge action choice on the left and the date of service you complied on the right.

As you can see none of the employee's pledges have been loaded into the Wellness Summary yet.

Please note: When you take action on one of your Wellness Pledges it takes at least one month for that information to load into your summary.

Below is the schedule of file uploading into the North Shore-LIJ platform from our carriers:
Health Assessment: 3rd Monday of month
United Healthcare claims: 3rd Monday of month
Cigna Dental claims: 1st Monday of month
Davis Vision claims: 1st day of month

How Your Information Loads
Let's give some examples:
Your annual exam was on February 4, 2015. You should see your visit as complied the following month on the third Monday, March 16. United feeds their files on the 3rd Monday of the month.
Your dental cleaning was sometime in January and again in July. You should see your dental visit as complied on the January date of service. Your second visit will not override your first.
Your eyes were examined on January 26. To view your date of service on our Wellness Summary you will have to check back March 1, first day of the following month.

Still Don't See Date of Service?
Please keep in mind your physician's office may delay filing the claim with the carrier, which will further delay the capturing of your visit. Not to worry - as long as you complete your four wellness pledges/actions before December 31* you will receive the paycheck credits in 2016.

Check on the Status of Your Pledges
If you want to check up on the status of your pledges visit Employee Self Service - Personal Information - Self Service - Benefits - Wellness Summary.

*To receive your credits beginning with the first pay cycle of 2016, finish all pledges before October 31!