U is for Unhelpful

We received this e-mail from our personnel department last week.

Fellow State Employees,Today, I am pleased to tell you about a new initiative to reward you for taking control of your health. In coming months, you will be hearing a lot about “Upgrade your health. Upgrade your plan.”
If you are currently enrolled in state medical benefits, you can qualify for the new Wellness Consumer Driven Health Plan (CDHP) by completing three easy steps before Aug. 31, 2014.

• Step One is completing the Well-Being Assessment (WBA) at MyHealthyLifestyles.com. This confidential assessment identifies health risks and creates an action plan.

• Step Two is completing a confidential biometric screening with your primary care physician or attending a free screening event in May, June or July.

• Step Three is logging at least 200,000 steps in the Healthy Lifestyles Steps Challenge in July or earning 2,500 points (in addition to WBA points) in MyHealthyLifestyles.com between June 1 and August 31.

Those who complete the three steps have the option of selecting the Wellness CDHP this fall during Open Enrollment.
Given the fast pace at which our lives move today, making healthier choices and being active are paramount to sustaining a vibrant Indiana. The State of Indiana is committed to giving employees the resources they need to take control of their health and well-being.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to learn more about upgrading your health by reading tomorrow’s issue of the Torch or by visiting www.investinyourhealthindiana.com/Upgrade.
Indiana is the front-runner in providing options to state employees that help you become more informed healthcare consumers. I look forward to completing these steps and participating alongside you in the Healthy Lifestyles Steps Challenge in July.

My first thought was “Sounds interesting. I wonder what the upgrade will be?” And I kept reading to find… I still had no idea. There was not one concrete example. I scoured the Personnel Department’s website. Still no data. I then sent them the following e-mail:

I read the e-mail about upgrading to the Wellness CDHP, but there was no information about the new plan itself, only how to qualify for it. I also looked on SPD's site and was unable to find any plan specifics. Can you please give me an overview of how the new plan will compare to current CDHPs offered by the state?

Thank you.

My coworker and I were talking about this, and she said “They’ll probably say more information will be coming soon.”

Sure enough, here’s the e-mail I got.

Thanks for your question. We are still finalizing the details on the upgrade, but more information will be coming soon. Our goal in providing this information today is to let plan holders know that they can qualify for the upgrade and give them plenty of time to complete the steps.Please let us know if you have any further questions. Thanks for your interest in the program!

My response:

Ok, I hope it is available very soon. It's difficult to decide if I should complete the qualification steps without this data. Thank you for the information

What I wanted to say:

What kind of crack are you on? This is why people HATE HR. You tell them they will have the option for a “new, improved” health plan, but you can’t provide any details on why they should even considered jumping through the hoops to get it.

I am not impressed. It looks like I need to go there and teach them a thing or two about how to run an HR department.