Welcome to a special edition of Insights, devoted entirely to WakeWise Wellness.
If you need to reference any of these topics, you can find each article and more in the new Wellness section on WakeEmployees.com.
If you have questions about any of the information in this special Insights edition, or your new CIGNA health plan, contact benefits at 856-6090
or CIGNA’s customer service line at 1-800-244-6224.
What does it mean to be healthy?
According to the World Health Organization, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
What does the word wellness mean?
The Wellness Council of America defines wellness as an intentional choice of a lifestyle characterized by personal responsibility, moderation, and maximum personal enhancement of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
The words health and wellness are used often, and with the WakeWise Wellness initiative, you are going to be seeing them a lot. More importantly, we hope that you will actively make these concepts a part of your everyday life.
WakeWise Wellness is Wake County’s way of assisting you in becoming as healthy as you can possibly be. You are a partner in our effort to improve the overall wellness of Wake County and can do small things on a regular basis that have a big impact on your health. In the coming year, WakeWise Wellness will focus on four areas:
Smoking Cessation
Weight Management through healthy eating and regular moderate exercise
Stress Reduction
Being a WakeWise Healthcare Consumer
We look forward to providing you information, resources and support on your journey to a healthier you. If you have specific questions about one of the programs listed above that are not answered in this special edition of Insights, please contact Ruth Barlow at Ruth.Barlow@co.wake.nc.us or call 212-9301.
WakeWise Wellness would like to invite you to take a step toward a healthier you by taking part in CIGNA's online Health Risk Assessment (HRA). You and your spouse (if covered) can each have $50 added to your medical fund for deductible expenses for completing the assessment, regardless of which CIGNA health insurance plan you choose. You must complete your health risk assessment by 12/31/08.
An HRA is a questionnaire that asks about your current lifestyle including health habits, physical activity, nutrition, injury prevention and stress management. The confidential results of your HRA can be used to help set goals for healthy actions in your personal health plan and are provided to you immediately after you complete the assessment.
You will need some basic current health information to fill out the Health Risk Assessment including:
last blood pressure
total cholesterol level
HDL cholesterol
LDL cholesterol
triglyceride level
glucose level (fasting or non-fasting)
height and weight
If you haven't had a physical or a screening done within the last six months, we recommend that you schedule a physical with your doctor (physicals are FREE to members under our plans) and wait to complete the HRA after you receive updated information from your doctor. You may choose to complete the HRA without the health screening information, but including it gives you a much more accurate picture of your health status.
To do this, go to www.myCIGNA.com, and register by creating a user ID and password. If you are a first-time user of myCIGNA.com, register your online account as follows: Click on the register button located on the home page, use your member number from your ID card or Social Security number to complete the employee information fields located on the “registration page.”
Once you are in the system, you will see a link to the confidential Health Risk Assessment on the right side of the page under the heading "I want to." Click on this link and it will take you to the online questionnaire for your HRA. You will receive $50 toward your medical fund for deductible expenses after completing the questionnaire. The incentive will be added to your CIGNA account within four to six weeks.
You may also obtain an additional $50 credit toward your deductible by completing the Health Screening Acknowledgement form, verifying that you received your health screening information from your doctor. The Health Screening Acknowledgement form is available by clicking on the "Submit Your Screening Form" button on the above right. You can also find this button to submit your form at www.wakeemployees.com/wellness. To complete this form you will need your CIGNA ID number or Social Security number, the date you received your information and your doctor’s name.
Your participation in the Health Risk Assessment questionnaire and Health Screening is completely voluntary. In addition to extra credit to your deductible, you will benefit from getting an accurate picture of your current health status. The process will also provide CIGNA with information they can use to help you improve your health.
We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity for a positive start to a healthy 2008 and other WakeWise Wellness offerings in the coming year.
Too busy to read all the brochures and booklets you’ve received about your new CIGNA health plan? Here is what you need to get started.
How to read your CIGNA ID card
Your member ID card provides information to identify your health plan, group number, where to file claims and customer service telephone numbers for you and your provider. Your health plan identification is on the upper right hand corner and bottom left hand corner of your member ID card. The Choice Fund HRA Plan is designated as “Choice Fund OA Plus” and the Open Access Plus plan is designated as “Open Access Plus.”
When you visit your doctor
When you visit your doctor- Be sure to let your doctor know if you are a CIGNA Choice Fund HRA participant when you visit the office. Request to be billed after the medical claim has been filed rather than at the time of service.
Take a virtual tour of myCIGNA.com by clicking on the “myCIGNA Capabilities”link located on the myCIGNA.com homepage to learn how to register for online access, manage your health plan benefits and to view health care resources and online tools. The virtual tour will show you how to take advantage of all that myCIGNA.com has to offer.
Inform your Healthcare Providers
About The Choice Fund HRA Plan
Wake County Human Resources and CIGNA Heatlhcare have partnered to notify area in network providers about the Choice Fund Open Access (OA) Plus plan. This plan is otherwise known as the Choice Fund HRA Plan.
Local medical providers have been asked to honor CIGNA’s standard provider contract to bill members after receiving an Explanation of Payment (EOP), rather than at the time of service. A reminder to providers is printed on the back of your member ID, “Reminder to Provider: Please do not collect deductibles or coinsurance at the time of service.”
We encourage you to be WakeWise consumers by talking about the program with your doctor or their staff. This is extremely important if you have funds in your Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to cover some or all of your healthcare expenses.
To assist you, view a copy of CIGNA’s letter to doctor(s). We are confident that most providers will honor the terms of the health plan. However, providers manage their offices independently, and Wake County and CIGNA cannot guarantee that all doctors will follow the suggested process.
Education and awareness will be key to the success of the new health plan. Please do not hesitate to contact CIGNA’s customer service at 1-800-244-6224 with any questions about your CIGNA health care benefit plan.
Do not lose valuable pre-tax dollars. If you have a balance on your account from 2007, take advantage of your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) dollars and file claims for out-of-pocket eligible health care expenses incurred from August to December 2007. These claims are due by March 31, 2008. You can also use your 2007 FSA medical contributions to cover health care expenses incurred between January 1 and March 15, 2008.
For more information on how to use the last of your 2007 flex dollars as well as changes to the flex program for 2008, read Make the Most of Your Flex Dollars article in the Wellness section of WakeEmployees.com.
Give yourself the best gift that you can this year- improve your health and wellbeing and that of those who live with you by quitting smoking. Use of tobacco products comes in many different forms. All have related cancer risk associated with their use but smoking tops the list.
Most people do not know the actual chemical content of tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke contains many chemicals (over 4000) that are generated and released during the burning process. Some of these chemicals include: cadmium (heavy metal); carbon monoxide (engine exhaust); arsenic (poison); hydrogen cyanide (poison); benzene (industrial solvent); acetone (fingernail polish remover); formaldehyde (embalming fluid); and toluene (industrial solvent). Many of these compounds are known cancer-causing chemicals and are so toxic that they fall under OSHA regulations for employees who have to work with them.
Your lungs/respiratory system is the second quickest way to get chemicals in to your body. The quickest way is by injection of a chemical into your veins. This is why we ask fire fighters to wear self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) respirators so that they do not breathe in toxic burning smoke and are supplied with fresh oxygen while fighting a fire. When you smoke a cigarette, it is the same as you fighting a small fire without a SCBA respirator.
Exposure to these chemicals in the smoke release what we call “free radicals.” Free radicals cause changes at the cellular level in your lung tissue and cause changes that result in unhealthy tissue setting up an excellent environment for cancer and other respiratory diseases to develop.
Give yourself healthier lungs in 2008. Take advantage of your smoking cessation resources:
Click here for tobacco cessation resources and the CIGNA Quit Today link: www.cignabehavioral.com, under the Members link click on “Login to access your benefits” and enter wakecounty in the Employee ID field, On the Members page click on left side bar link titled “Quit Your Tobacco Addiction” > See Quit Today Program information. Your program information and enrollment contact information is right there.
If you are trying to quit either through Wake County Employee Health, through CIGNA’s Quit Today or on your own, we would love to support your effort and recognize your accomplishment when you have reached your goal. Please email Robin Cassidy, RN, ANP/Employee Health or Ruth Barlow, RN/ Wellness Coordinator and let us know how you are doing.
print version Special Wellness Issue | February 12, 2008
What does it mean to be healthy? 
WakeWise Wellness would like to invite you to take a step toward a healthier you by taking part in CIGNA's online Health Risk Assessment (HRA). You and your spouse (if covered) can each have $50 added to your medical fund for deductible expenses for completing the assessment, regardless of which CIGNA health insurance plan you choose. You must complete your health risk assessment by 12/31/08.
Wake County Human Resources and CIGNA Heatlhcare have partnered to notify area in network providers about the Choice Fund Open Access (OA) Plus plan. This plan is otherwise known as the Choice Fund HRA Plan.