Health Benefits

Policies offered by Dakota State University through the Board of Regents:

Incentive Programs

NEW - Latitude Employee Assistance Program (LEAP)

Sponsored by the South Dakota State Employee Benefits Program, and provided by APS Healthcare, as a free service offered to benefit eligible employees and dependents. Employees and dependents need to be benefit eligible but do not need to be enrolled in the South Dakota State Employee Health Plan to use LEAP.

Life Events just HAPPEN. You can't predict them, you can't plan for them, and they add stress and anxiety and may cause you to lose the ability to "deal with it". But, you CAN get help.

Life Events such as:

A sick child pulls you out of work for a day
Sudden illness or loss of a loved one
An argument with a co-worker or family member
A new baby
An upcoming marriage
Your parents are "getting old"
Problems in your relationship or pending divorce

The South Dakota State Employee Benefits Program is pleased to announce the addition of a new benefit to State Employees, the Latitude Employee Assistance Program (LEAP). The program is a free service offered to benefit eligible State Employees and their dependents administered by APS Healthcare.

Employee Assistance Programs help employees resolve a wide range of issues and restore both personal and professional effectiveness. LEAP will assist employees in managing the personal challenges that influence well-being, performance, and effectiveness.

Whatever the issue, Latitude Employee Assistance Program (LEAP) can assist you in creating solutions that will allow you to be healthier, happier, and more productive. LEAP is available at no cost to you and your dependents 24 hours a day/365 days per year.

To learn more about LEAP or to request services, call 800-713-6288 or visit www.apshelplink.com and enter company code southdakota.

Note: Employees using LEAP services must follow leave policies according to the Dakota State University handbook.

Latitude Wellness Program – Latitude is a personalized health improvement program offered by the South Dakota State Employee Health Plan. It is designed to promote health through prevention and early diagnosis to help you take charge of your health by taking the little steps that can make a big difference. The following Health Plan members are eligible for the programs available: Employees, Covered spouses of State employees, Employees that Opt Out of the State Health Plan are ONLY eligible for the HealthyEmployees program, Retirees and their covered spouses under the age of 65 and COBRA members and their covered spouses.

Latitude offers tools and resources to help improve your health including:

INSIGHT Health Assessment - (Health Questionnaire)
Health Advising
EMPOWERED Health Coaching - HealthFitness program that offers confidential one-on-one health coaching to support you in making lifestyle changes that improve your health.
Condition Management Programs - Programs help individuals with chronic conditions better understand how to take care of their health, feel better and enjoy the best quality of life possible. Available programs: Asthma, Chronic Pain Cardiac and Diabetes programs.

Gain easy online access, at work and at home, to programs, health information, and tools. Visit www.liveforlife.net/hfit/sd.

Employee Wellness Program – https://healthyemployees.sd.gov is a confidential employee wellness program that provides you the tools to become healthier and more physically fit. All benefited State employees, retirees under age 65, COBRA participants, and their covered spouses are eligible to participate in the HealthyEmployees.sd.gov Wellness Program each Plan Year - including employees who "Opt-Out" of the State Health Plan coverage.

To begin, simply log onto https://healthyemployees.sd.gov and set up your goal(s). The program requires all participants to achieve one goal, five days a week, for three consecutive months. All you need to do is submit your goal(s) at the end of the three months and you will earn points towards for the catalog. If you would like more information, you may also refer to our Wellness Program Q&A found at http://benefits.sd.gov under Forms & Documents.

Health Screenings - Sanford Partners in Prevention continues providing free Health Screenings.

Billing Error – You are encouraged to examine hospital and doctor bills for accuracy to ensure you received all the services for which you were charged. If you find an error on your bill, the Plan will pay you 50 percent of the money you saved the plan. There is a minimum incentive payment of $25 and a maximum of $1,000. This incentive applies only to covered charges for inpatient hospital care, outpatient surgery in an ambulatory care facility, services received from clinics and related tests. You are responsible for auditing the charges, requesting corrected billings from providers and submitting all documentation to the Bureau of Personnel for processing. To determine whether you qualify for the billing error incentive, you must send copies of the incorrect bill, the corrected bill, and a brief explanation of the error to the Bureau of Personnel. For every incentive dollar paid out, the health plan has realized a savings of about $3.00. Keep looking for those errors.

Note: With DRG-based billing, itemized charges do not affect your hospital bill. Therefore, the Billing and Processing Error Incentive Program does not apply.

Mother-To-Be Incentive – If you or your covered spouse is expecting, you should enroll in the "Our Healthy Baby" prenatal program during the first three months of the pregnancy. You can enroll in this program by contacting Health Management Partners (HMP) at 1-888-821-2242 or by enrolling online at http://www.benefits.sd.gov/ourhealthybaby.aspx. The purpose of the program is to help bring pregnancies to full term and prevent the high costs of premature births. Once the baby is born and added to the Health Plan, you will receive a $100 non-tax incentive into your Health Reward and Wellness Account -- if you enrolled within the first three months of the pregnancy.

After you enroll, you will be mailed special educational materials to help you or your spouse maintain good prenatal health.

Important Note: Enrollment in the Mother-to-Be Prenatal Program does not automatically add your baby to the Health Plan. To do this, you must notify the Human Resources Office within 60 days of the birth and pay required contributions. Failure to enroll the child within the 60-day enrollment period means your baby is not covered by the Plan. You will not be able to add the child until the next annual enrollment period or until you have another qualifying family status change. In addition, evidence of insurability may be required when you add the baby to your coverage.

Changes for FY14

The changes to the State Benefits Plans for FY 2014, effective July 1, 2013 will include:

Latitude Health Plan ($500 Deductible)

Removed all copayments except Emergency Room: $250
Increase of Dependent Rates
CVS Caremark replaces Express Scripts, Inc as the Pharmacy Benefits Manager
Expand Tiers of Presciption Drug Coverage to reduce the number of non-covered presciptions

$1,000 Deductible Health Plan

Removed all copayments except Emergency Room: $250
Increase of Dependent Rates
CVS Caremark replaces Express Scripts, Inc as the Pharmacy Benefits Manager
Expand Tiers of Presciption Drug Coverage to reduce the number of non-covered presciptions

$1,800 Deductible Health Plan HSA Compatible

Changes in Dependent Rates
CVS Caremark replaces Express Scripts, Inc as the Pharmacy Benefits Manager

Flexible Benefits

Increase in Dental Rates
Increase in Vision Rates
Medical Expense Spending Account - $2,500 maximum contribution per calendar year

To Be Eligible for the $500 deductible plan in FY15, you and your covered spouse must complete a Health Screening, Health Assessment and a Latitude Program during FY14.

Should you have questions, please refer to the FY2014 Enrollment Guide or contact the HR Office.