Health Benefits

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

Incentive Programs

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)
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, Back Conditions, Coronary Artery Disease, Diabetes and Oncology.

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 be credited the $100 incentive money into a Health Rewards and Wellness Account (HRWA). 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. If you attend a Health Screening, you are eligible for a $50 incentive.

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 (see the Summary Plan Description), 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.hmpsd.com/baby.html. 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 US Savings Bond -- 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 90 days of the birth and pay required contributions. Failure to enroll the child within the 90-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 FY12

The changes to the State Benefits Plans for FY 2012, effective July 1, 2011 will include:

Increased premiums for Delta Dental insurance
CASD chiropractic copayment increase from $25 to $30
Non-CASD chiropractic copayment increase from $30 to $35
Effective, July 1, 2011 the SD State Employee Health Plan will modify the Formulary (list of covered prescription drugs). The new Formulary will consist of Generic and Preferred Brand-Name Drugs. Some prescription drugs may no longer be covered after the Formulary change. Please refer to the Q&A for the FY12 Formulary changes.
No increase in dependent health premiums.
No increase in premiums for the vision, major injury, hospital indemnity, and/or short-term disability plans.
Continued $300 Opt Out credit for Opt Outs of the state health plan.
Continue $300 Incentive for Members with $2,000 deductible Plan with Health Savings Account.

Should you have questions, please refer to the FY2012 Enrollment Guide at http://benefits.sd.gov or contact the HR Office.