DENTAL PLAN CHANGES

In my June 6, 2013, benefits newsletter, I shared that the dental plan would have no plan design changes for the upcoming plan year. I recently learned that the information I shared with you was incorrect. Moda Health did in fact make changes to Dental Plan 4, the dental plan available to 4J employees. Effective October 1, 2013:

• Bitewing x-rays moved from covered once every 6 months to every 12 months
• Panoramic x-rays moved from covered once every 3 years to once every 5 years
• Vizilite coverage was eliminated

I apologize if you have been negatively impacted by this change. In my earlier newsletter I was sharing information I had received and didn’t realize it was incorrect.

WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?

The pilot employee wellness program, What’s Your Number? has now wrapped up for 2013-14. The program, made possible through the OEA Choice Trust Employee Wellness Grant Program, allowed employees to participate in onsite screenings to assess their cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and body mass index. Additionally, the screenings let participants know their fasting blood glucose level.

Congratulations to Casandra Kamens of North Eugene High School, who was the grand-prize winner! Congratulations also go to Catherine Burke-Maher. Catherine completed a wellness program survey at the September 5, 2013, Benefits Forum at Sheldon and won the drawing for a Lane County Parks pass. Thanks to Casandra, Catherine, and all of you who participated in the What’s Your Number? employee wellness program!

HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT

If you signed up to participate in OEBB Healthy Futures, remember that you must complete your health assessment by May 31, 2014. As you prepare to take your health risk assessment (HRA) having some of your personal health information handy will help you to get the most accurate score. The HRA will ask you for your most recent cholesterol levels, blood pressure and will ask gender specific questions. Your most current weight and waist circumference is information you should have available.

To get started, log into the Moda website for OEBB members (https://www.modahealth.com/oebb/members/) and complete a confidential online health assessment.  If you cover a spouse/partner on your medical plan, they will also need to create a username and password and login to complete their own individual health assessment. If one of you participates but the other doesn’t, your family as a whole will not have satisfied the requirements of the Healthy Futures program, and no reward will be received.

You do not need to be enrolled in the Healthy Futures program to complete an HRA. Knowing your health risks and addressing them is a positive step toward a healthy you! Need an additional incentive to complete an assessment? On July 1, 2014, a random drawing for a $500 gift card will be held from all covered subscribers and covered spouses/domestic partners who completed an HRA on or after January 1, 2013, and on or before May 31, 2014.

You can find all of the Healthy Futures details, as well as a preview of the Moda Health Assessment, on the OEBB website: http://www.oregon.gov/OHA/OEBB/Pages/index.aspx

WELLNESS RESOURCES

If you are looking for ways to fulfill your “healthy actions” requirements of the Healthy Futures program, you have some great options available to you as an OEBB member.

Healthy Team Healthy U is a wellness at work program you can participate in with fellow employees: https://oebb.healthyteam-secure.com/public/

MoodHelper is an online program to help adults with depression and is available to OEBB members at no cost. To participate, you will be asked to provide your OEBB E number and the invitation code OEBB227. To get started: www.MoodHelper.org.

As an OEBB member, you can participate at no cost in Weight Watchers AtWork or Community meetings, or enroll in a WW online subscription. To find all the details of our Weight Watchers benefit: http://www.oregon.gov/OHA/OEBB/pages/faqww.aspx

The Moda Health website for OEBB members has information on a wide rage of health coaching programs and tools to help you manage your health: https://www.modahealth.com/oebb/members/health_tools_coaching.shtml

SICK LEAVE BANK

The Eugene Education Association manages the Sick Leave Bank (SLB), the purpose of which is to grant hours to eligible members in cases of long-term absence necessitated by illness or injury. To maintain active membership, a minimum donation of one day (prorated for part-time employees) must be made every four years.

Thanks very much to the 88 members who contributed to the SLB during the recently concluded open enrollment period. Of those 88 donors, 16 were new SLB members!

The next open enrollment period will be in the fall of 2014. E-mail reminders and forms will be sent at that time.

NUTS ABOUT NUTS!

According to the largest study of its kind, researchers affiliated with Harvard University concluded that people who eat nuts tend to live longer than those who don’t eat them. The more often people ate nuts, the greater the benefit. Whether the specific types of nuts were crucial to the protective effect could not be determined, but the reduction in mortality was similar both for peanuts (a legume, or ground nut) and for tree nuts – walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, and pine nuts.

The biggest effect was seen in reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease – a major killer of people in the U.S. But there was also a significant reduction in the risk of dying from cancer. While the researchers note that they cannot definitively prove cause and effect, a wealth of existing observational and clinical trial data support the finding that nut consumption provides health benefits against many chronic conditions.

People who ate more nuts tended to be leaner and more active, consumed more produce, and were less likely to smoke than nut avoiders. However, sophisticated data analysis methods were used to rule out other factors that might have accounted for the mortality benefits.

Nuts are excellent sources of protein and other healthful nutrients, but eating nuts won’t do much good if you gobble them in addition to your usual snacks and meals. At 185 calories per ounce, a handful of walnuts a day could add 10 pounds or more in a year if you don’t cut back on something else. Eat nuts instead of chips or other, less healthy snacks. Or try using them instead of meat in main dishes, or as a healthful crunch in salads.

OEBB DEPENDENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION

OEBB rules require a Dependent Eligibility Verification (DEV) Review for each participating entity at least once every three years, and Eugene 4J will be up for review in November of 2014. The DEV review will include all dependents (spouses/partners/children) active in the MyOEBB system, and will impact both active and retired employees.

As the DEV review date draws closer, subscribers will receive communication from OEBB outlining timelines and documentation requirements. Once the DEV is underway, subscribers will be allowed to mail, fax, or e-mail the appropriate documentation, or will have an opportunity to present documentation in person to OEBB staff.

Members who choose to send documentation to OEBB will be asked to provide copies of documents only as all documents received by OEBB will be shredded at the conclusion of the review.  Documentation provided at the scheduled onsite review sessions will be reviewed, verified and logged and will not be retained.

No action is required at this time. However, if it will take you some time to locate your documents (marriage or registered domestic partnership certificate, affidavit of domestic partnership, birth certificate, etc.) you may want to start gathering information in advance of the DEV review.