News you need to know …

March 23 is ‘Diabetes Alert Day’ – Purdue offers many resources to help

“Diabetes Alert Day” is observed each year on the fourth Tuesday in March (March 23, 2021) as a “wake-up” call that focuses on the seriousness of type 2 diabetes and the importance of individuals understanding their risks. Purdue offers many resources to assist those with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. 

The following programs and resources are available through the Center for Healthy Living on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus:

  • CHIP – The Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) is a lifestyle medicine education program, which focuses on whole person health.
  • Health coaching – Health coaching is a confidential and supportive partnership between an individual and the health coach, and can be an effective way to motivate and encourage behavior change to help meet wellness goals. Health coaches are available on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus and Purdue’s Fort Wayne campus; appointments can be held virtually and in-person.
  • HealthKick – HealthKick is a 6-week virtual education program which addresses physical activity, nutrition, creating healthy habits and decreasing stress. The goal of this program is to increase education surrounding nutrition and develop healthy habits over 6-weeks to last a lifetime.
  • Medication therapy management (MTM) – MTM is offered through the pharmacists at the CHL and provides assistance to those using multiple medications such as identifying drug interactions, helping with side effects and more.
  • Taking Control of Your Diabetes Program –This 8-week program is tailored for those living with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes and will explain what type 2 diabetes is and the role nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management have on influencing blood glucose levels.

Questions about any of the CHL programs can be directed to the CHL at 765-494-0111.

Another type 2 diabetes program offered via Purdue is Virta.

  • Virta – Virta is a type 2 diabetes management program available to benefits-eligible faculty and staff from age 18 to 79 with type 2 diabetes as well as prediabetic patients with a BMI ≥ 35. There are some serious medical conditions that would exclude patients from Virta.  Spouses/adult dependents covered on a Purdue health plan are also eligible. Learn more about Virta by visiting virtahealth.com/purdue. Questions can be directed to support@virtahealth.com.

Mental health resources available to assist students

Faculty and staff, who work with students or have a student at home, can direct students to the resources below for behavioral health assistance. Note: LiveHealth Online Psychology and LiveHealth Online Psychiatry services are also available to Purdue students who are covered on a Purdue Graduate Student or Student Health Plan. Mental health visits through LiveHealth Online are covered at 100 percent on the Purdue student health plan.   

Office of the Dean of Students:

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS):

Call 211 for help for a variety of needs

United Way offers 211 to connect individuals to confidential, expert, caring help for a comprehensive list of resources and services – including help during the COVID-19 pandemic, help paying bills, mental health and more. Simply dial 211 to find the help you need. For more information, visit 211.org.

Upcoming deadlines for health and dependent care spending accounts

Employees have until March 31, 2021, to file claims for reimbursement of 2020 eligible expenses from their 2020 FSA, LPFSA, DCFSA and wellness Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). It is highly recommended that individuals submit their claim forms and supporting documentation to HSA Bank as soon as possible in order to be processed before the deadline.

Unused funds remaining in the 2020 wellness HRAs will be forfeited.

The best way to submit requests for reimbursement is online at www.hsabank.com or on the HSA Bank mobile app. Individuals may also complete a Reimbursement Request Form and submit it with their documentation to HSA Bank via mail or fax.

Additionally, employees still have until April 15 to contribute to their 2020 HSA if their annual limit hasn’t been reached yet. Click here to learn how.

For more information, please visit the HSA, HRA and FSA web page.

Submit tobacco-cessation waiver by March 31 to waive additional premium for entire 2021 plan year

As a reminder, employees (and their spouse, if covered) who certify as tobacco users (a person who has used tobacco, including cigars, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco or any other tobacco product in the past 12 months) during open enrollment each year will pay an additional $1,000 tobacco-user premium on their medical benefits. Full or partial premium waivers can be obtained by competing an approved tobacco cessation program.

Completed program certificates from an approved tobacco cessation program submitted by March 31 will waive the tobacco-user additional premium for the entire 2021 plan year. If the form is submitted after March 31, the premium will be waived for the remainder of the 2021 plan year.

For more information about the additional premium, visit the Purdue Medical Plan Tobacco-User Additional Premium: Questions and Answers web page.

Use the “How Much Will You Save?” calculator provided by smokefree.gov to see personalized cost savings results based only on the number of cigarettes smoked per day.

Upcoming Healthy Boiler workshops

Recycling, relaxation, gardening, skin cancer awareness and more are the topics for the Healthy Boiler workshops being offered in the coming months. Healthy Boiler workshops are free to all benefits-eligible faculty and staff and dependents covered on a Purdue medical 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 unless otherwise specified. See the full list of workshops on the “Healthy Boiler Workshops” web page.

Summer camps for kids

As summer approaches, parents and caregivers can look to the “Welcome to Family Friendly” website for a list of summer camps available in the community. Some area camps may not be held or may have new requirements specific to COVID-19. For instance, Purdue’s Boiler Kids Camp will not be in operation for the summer of 2021. 

Please note: Information provided by Purdue University does not indicate endorsement of any particular summer camp program and may change at any time. Employees should contact camp providers directly to confirm location, programs and rate information.

The following camps currently are listed on the website: