Wellness

Wellness Program

Taking an active role in becoming healthier or maintaining your health is good for you and your wallet. Preventive measures, like annual physicals, help your doctor find potential health issues before they become major problems. Starting a care regimen early for these potential issues may help you avoid illness and save you money on your health care expenses in the long run.

The University encourages you to take an active role in reaching and maintaining good health by offering wellness program incentives.

What Do You Need to Do?

To complete the wellness program and qualify for the 2022 wellness incentive:

1. Visit with a licensed health care provider from November 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021 for a qualified wellness program visit, AND
2. Complete the Tobacco Pledge and Notice, during 2022 Open Enrollment.

Wellness Program Incentives

If you complete the above steps, you can earn the following incentives, based on your medical plan coverage:

• Classic Plan: You’ll save $1,400 (individual coverage) or $2,800 (family coverage) on your medical plan’s annual out-of-pocket maximum
• Premier Plan: You’ll save $500 (individual coverage) or $1,000 (family coverage) on your medical plan’s annual out-of-pocket maximum.

Understanding the Steps

The following steps are for employees/primary subscribers only—your spouse and covered dependents do not need to complete the steps for you to earn wellness program incentives.

You can complete the Tobacco Pledge and Notice through Workday during enrollment.

Complete the Tobacco Pledge and Notice through Employee Self-Service (ESS). Note: The Pledge only applies to you, not your spouse or enrolled dependents.

If you do not complete the Tobacco Pledge and Notice, you choose to continue to use tobacco/nicotine, or you use tobacco/nicotine and do not commit to enrolling in and completing a recognized tobacco cessation program, you will be assessed the $50 monthly tobacco surcharge (that’s $600 per year!). Note: If you are a nine-month employee, your monthly tobacco surcharge amount may differ to account for the nine-month payroll period.

You’ll pay the surcharge through payroll deductions on an after-tax basis for the entire 2022 calendar year. 

Tobacco Cessation Programs

Many recognized tobacco cessation programs that provide services or one-on-one counseling are available at no cost to you, including:

• 1-800-Quit Now
• Arkansas Stamp Out Smoking
• Pat Walker Health Center
• The American Cancer Society Quit for Life
• The National Cancer Institute Quitline
• UA Little Rock Health Services Center
• UMR’s Tobacco-free 4 Life Program.

UMR Tobacco-Free 4 Life Program

The University has teamed up with UMR to provide a tobacco cessation program to covered employees.

When you participate in the program, you will qualify for two NO COST tobacco cessation visits with your primary care physician.

If your physician prescribes Chantix, you may fill your prescription with for free for up to six months.

Contact a UMR Wellness Coach at 800.207.7680 to enroll in the tobacco cessation program.

Real Appeal Weight Loss Program

Real Appeal is an online weight loss program. It’s available for free to University employees enrolled in a University medical plan. Real Appeal is designed to help you lose weight and live a healthier life.

Here’s what you’ll get with Real Appeal:

• Up to a year of support from a Transformation Coach. This is the person who guides you through the program and develops a simple, customized plan that fits your needs, preferences and goals.
• Unlimited access to Real Appeal’s digital content library. The library includes workout videos, tools to help track food, activity and weight, weekly analysis and feedback, recipes and more.
• Access to weekly online coaching sessions with your Transformation Coach and a group of fellow members. Members all share what’s helped them achieve success.
• A success kit. It’s full of healthy weight management tools, including fitness guides, a recipe book (with quick family meal ideas and fast-food eating tips), weight scale and more.