Each issue of the Healthy Boiler newsletter contains a “News you need to know …” section, which as its name implies, contains news that you need to know and / or be reminded of from Human Resources – Benefits. You are encouraged to fully review this section each month. Any questions can be directed to Human Resources at 765-494-2222, toll free at 877-725-0222 or via email at hr@purdue.edu

The Fidelity Investor Center – located in the Purdue Memorial Union (PMU) – is closed and on-site Fidelity Help Desk sessions scheduled on the West Lafayette campus have been put on hold for the time being. However, Fidelity representatives are still available to meet virtually. Employees may continue to call 800-642-7131 or schedule an appointment online.  Fidelity representatives have been contacting those with in-person appointments already scheduled to change to virtual or reschedule for a later date.

Fidelity will continue to offer virtual on-demand and live web workshops. To access and sign up for the available workshops, log into your Fidelity account, click on “Library” at the top of the page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Workshops.”

Additionally, in an effort to keep retirement plan participants up to date on current market conditions, Fidelity is also sharing their Market Volatility Viewpoints landing zone, which offers a variety of resources to help individuals navigate the ever-changing market and offers new content daily.  

For general assistance with managing your retirement plans, you may continue to call 800-343-0860 or log on to NetBenefits and utilize the online chat function.

It’s important to take a look at your beneficiary information at least once a year to make sure you have your beneficiaries lined up in order to appropriately distribute your funds based on your wishes after your passing. With that in mind, Employees are asked to take a moment to log into the Benefitfocus tool and review your beneficiary information. Benefitfocus is the official record of Purdue life insurance beneficiaries.

As a reminder, life insurance beneficiary records are now set to the plan default for employees who did not designate a beneficiary by the end of open enrollment last fall.

To help guide you through the process, the “Beneficiary Management” web page has outlined each of the benefit programs that provide for beneficiaries in the event of your death and instructions on how to make updates if needed. For more information on the beneficiary update process, contact the plan vendor at the respective numbers listed on the web page.

March was National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which is the reason the Cologuard® campaign was introduced at the Center for Healthy Living (CHL). The partnership between the CHL, Cologuard® and Exact Sciences, is ongoing. Therefore, benefits-eligible employees and dependents covered on a Purdue health plan can choose to use Cologuard® – a noninvasive stool-based test that detects blood and abnormal DNA associated with colon cancer and pre-cancer – for their screening. The test is done from the privacy and comfort of your own home. To learn more, see the “Colon cancer screening made easy via Center for Healthy Livings Cologuard® campaign.” *Note: Due to COVID-19, appointments with a CHL provider – following the pre-screening questionnaire (available on the Healthy Boiler Portal) completion and review – will be telehealth appointments.    

Due to the recent mandate by government officials to cancel events in response to COVID-19, we regret to inform you that the 2020 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon and Delta Dental 500 Festival 5K scheduled for May 2, 2020, have been canceled. While there is still an opportunity to participate virtually, Purdue University has opted to defer all Purdue team members’ entries to the 2021 event.

At the core of Purdue’s HealthyBoiler Program – and all connected events, programs and resources, like the OneAmerica 500 events – is the overall wellness of our employees. The safety and well-being of our Purdue community members remains our top priority, and while understandably disappointing and perhaps inconvenient, the cancellation of the events will minimize exposure to COVID-19 and help stop the spread of the virus.

More information is available via the OneAmerica Mini Marathon website. Those who have made hotel reservations, the reservations are automatically being canceled. For more information, see the OneAmerica500 Festival Mini-Marathon Facebook page. 

At this time, all Healthy Boiler workshops are being held virtually.

Investing Health Savings Account (HSA) funds, walking and gardening are the topics the Healthy Boiler workshops will cover in May. Healthy Boiler workshops are free to all benefits-eligible faculty and staff and dependents covered on a Purdue health plan. Registration for all workshops can be done via the Healthy Boiler portal . Registration link can be found under the “Engage” tab, “Wellness Events” on the portal’s home page. All registrations are due by the day before the event’s start date. See the full list of workshops on the “Healthy Boiler Workshops” web page. Additionally, the virtual on-demand and live web workshops offered by Fidelity can be accessed via the Healthy Boiler Workshops web page.

Now that much of the world is staying at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and patients with certain high-risk conditions (like type 2 diabetes) are being advised to take even greater social distancing precautions, many people are having to use telemedicine for the first time. What sort of services are covered by most insurance companies? How do mail-order prescriptions work? Is it possible to get important lab tests from home?

Join this Virta-sponsored webinar, led by telemedicine experts Dr. Jeff Stanley, MD, and Dr. Brittanie Volk, PhD, to learn more about how telemedicine works and what kinds of care you can access without leaving your home. Webinar details are below:

Getting Healthcare from Home
Thursday, May 21, 1 p.m. ET

Registration is now open for those interested in attending.

Purdue is fully covering the cost of Virta for eligible employees and dependents with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.*

Virta’s type 2 diabetes care is provided online, meaning that you can access everything you need from the comfort of your home. Learn more at: www.virtahealth.com/purdue

Questions about Virta? Email: support@virtahealth.com

*Virta is available to all benefits-eligible faculty and staff. Spouses/adult dependents covered on a Purdue health plan are also eligible. This benefit is currently being offered to patients from 18 to 69 with type 2 diabetes as well as pre-diabetic patients with a BMI ≥ 35. There are some serious medical conditions that would exclude patients from Virta. Schedule a call to find out if you qualify.

Free guidance for new mothers and families, led by a Franciscan Health registered nurse who specializes in mother/baby care and is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), is being provided.  The Virtual Support Group will meet from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays from through May 27.  Registration required. Details are available here.