Penn Faculty Benefits News

Penn Faculty Benefits News: October 29, 2020

Fighting the Flu Together

Get Your Flu Shot sign

Getting a flu vaccination this year is more important than ever as the world continues to deal with COVID-19. By getting a flu shot you can protect yourself, your family, and your community against influenza while preserving health care resources needed to continue fighting the pandemic.

Although the Student Health Service on-campus flu shot clinics are over, you have many other vaccination options closer to home.

Using your medical insurance card, faculty and staff can get a flu vaccine at in-network locations such as a physician’s office, Urgent Care center, or pharmacy. In accordance with the Affordable Care Act, flu vaccines are considered preventive services, so if you go to an in-network provider you will not have a copay through your medical insurance plan. If you have health insurance outside of Penn, please check with your provider for available flu vaccine options.

Faculty and staff who are enrolled in one of Penn’s health plans can also get a flu shot at their local CVS pharmacy with no copay using their CVS Caremark card.

Benefits-eligible faculty and staff can earn Bonus Action points for the 2020-2021 Be in the Know campaign when they receive a flu vaccine. You will need to submit an Attestation Form on the Virgin Pulse platform to receive credit.

For more information about the upcoming flu season and what to expect during COVID-19, visit www.cdc.gov/flu.

November is National Family Caregivers Month  

Woman reassuring older woman

    Caring for a loved one who is older, ill, or disabled is challenging work. That work has become even more difficult as families face new realities of caregiving during the COVID-19 crisis. According to the Caregiver Action Network, caregiving during the pandemic has meant increased financial challenges for some families as well as a need to find new ways to handle doctor’s appointments and feelings of isolation.

    Managing caregiving responsibilities can be a stressful task. That’s why Penn offers resources to help you find the support you need. Consider these no-cost options during National Family Caregivers Month:   

    • Sharing the Caregiving: Managing Sibling Disagreements, November 3, 1pm-2pm- Siblings can make caring for an aging parent challenging and stressful. You think mom needs in-home care, your brother wants assisted living and mom doesn’t want help at all. Sound familiar? How can you and your siblings get on the same page, help mom find the right care and not get entangled in simmering past resentments? This webinar will discuss how to create a care team, delegating responsibilities, managing sibling conflict, and coping with your own stress. Register for Sharing the Caregiving.
    • Caring for the Caregiver During the Pandemic, November 17, 12:30pm-1:30pm – With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the emphasis on the elderly needing to exercise the most caution, more and more caregivers are finding themselves torn between self-care, caring for loved ones, and trying to counter their loved ones’ isolation. This webinar outlines the impact of the pandemic on the elderly and strategies for caring for the caregiver in the midst of this health crisis. It will help participants understand caregiver stress and learn tips and coping strategies for the caregiver as well as isolated family members likely battling loneliness. Register for Caring for the Caregiver During the Pandemic.

    Penn also offers the following virtual and in-person support resources to help meet your caregiving needs.    

    • Virtual forums for caregivers facilitated by Penn Memory Center - In 2020, Penn Memory Center began holding virtual caregiver forums in response to the uncertainty and tension caregivers faced during in the COVID-19 pandemic. These forums are aimed at providing a virtual space for caregivers to meet, share experiences and perspectives, and cope with others managing caregiving during the pandemic. Visit the Penn Memory Center website for more information including dates, times, and how to register.
    • Support groups offered by the Perelman School of Medicine’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center – The center hosts a variety of support groups that meet in-person to discuss the challenges and coping methods for living with or caring for someone with Parkinson’s Disease. For more information about the support groups, when and where to meet, and how to register, visit the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center website.

    You can contact the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), powered by Health Advocate for assistance. Benefits-eligible Penn faculty and staff – as well as their spouses, dependents, parents, and parents-in-law - can use this service at no cost to you. The EAP provides your family with experts who can provide a number of services, including identifying eldercare, in-home care, assisted living, and long-term care. Call 866-799-2329, Monday-Friday, 8am-10pm to speak with a representative. For emergencies, support is available 24/7.

    Through Penn’s partnership with Care.com benefits-eligible faculty and staff can also access a variety of senior care services. 

    Other Resources

    Health Advocate has aggregated resources tailored to unique COVID-19 experiences to help you plan, prepare and respond to your caregiving needs.

    For more caregiving tips, visit the Caregiver Action Network website. You can also visit the Caring for Your Family webpage for details about Penn’s dependent care benefits.

    Love Your Mind

    Man in thinking pose

    early one adult out of five in the U.S. is living with a mental illness. It’s time to leave the stigma behind and open the door to understanding mental health and access to health care. Whether you’re directly impacted by mental, behavioral, and emotional health issues or you’re interested in developing your awareness; your mind deserves some love and support.

    Tending to your mental health is as essential as taking care of your physical health. Fortunately, Penn faculty and staff have ready access to wellness and healthcare benefits to promote mind-body wellness, address immediate issues, and provide behavioral health treatment and support.

    “I don’t know whom to call or where to start.  I need to talk to someone today.”

    For 24/7 service, call Penn’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 1-866-799-2329.

    Trained behavioral health staff can help direct you to the support you’re looking for. All Penn benefits-eligible faculty and staff have 24/7 access to masters-level intake counselors via the EAP. The EAP offers an array of confidential counseling services to help you manage challenges you are facing. In addition to in-person counseling, options include the use of tele-behavioral health technology for therapy and medication management, video, text and chat.

    Counseling is free for you and your immediate family members - your spouse, dependent children, and your parents and parents-in-law.  Each family member can receive up to eight free counseling sessions per distinct problem, per fiscal year, from the time of your initial intake. If you exceed this limit, the EAP will make every effort to coordinate services with your existing health insurance. You may be referred to your insurance plan for services, where applicable, before your eight sessions are completed if it is determined that your clinical needs require treatment beyond the short-term scope of EAP. 

    “What if I can’t make it to an in-person appointment?”

    Through tele-behavioral health ‘virtual visits,’ you can eliminate common barriers to accessing behavioral health services. This service assures confidential video conferencing in the privacy of your home. This service also provides you with wider accessibility to care, especially where transportation or physical limitations may hamper receiving treatment. The EAP and behavioral health providers, Aetna, Magellan and Quest offer a few different solutions for virtual visits including Teladoc behavioral health and televideo programs. The technology and services differ by provider. 

    Tele-behavioral health counseling through the EAP is free for up to eight sessions per issue, fees apply to continue beyond eight sessions. For behavioral health providers, the same costs apply for tele- behavioral health service as in office visits.

    “What does my health plan cover?”

    Penn’s health plans include behavioral health coverage for you and your enrolled dependents. Here’s how to select a provider within your available network:

    Step 1: Identify which plan you are enrolled in. Log in to Workday, the select Benefits, then Benefit Elections.

    Step 2: Locate a provider by selecting the link for your health plan below and following the prompts for provider listings.

    • PennCare/Personal Choice PPO: Coverage provided through Quest.
    • Aetna Choice POS II: Coverage provided through Aetna's behavioral health network. 
    • Keystone/AmeriHealth HMO: Coverage provided through Magellan Health Services.
    • Aetna High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA): Coverage provided through Aetna's behavioral health network.

    You can also call Health Advocate for guidance at 1-866-799-2329.

    “What can I do to foster mental health?”

    To help you develop mental health awareness and resilience, Penn’s wellness and work-life team offers a range of personal development programs to support physical, emotional, and community health. For example, on October 29 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Listening Well During the 2020 Election: Encountering Ideological Difference with Empathy and Intellectual Humility. This free workshop is co-sponsored by Penn’s SNF Paideia Program and presented by Batsirai Bvunzawabaya, Associate Director for Outreach and Prevention, at Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services. In this workshop we will examine this political moment, listening, empathy, intellectual humility as well as how people change. We will learn wellness techniques that can enhance any conversation but can most especially be applied during this contentious election season.

    For more information about wellness, visit Penn’s Wellness &Work-Life pages for  faculty and staff.

    Make the Penn Employee Solution Center Your First Call

    Knowledgeable Penn Employee Solution Center Specialists are available Monday through Friday to answer your HR and payroll questions. Call 215-898-7372 or email solutioncenter@upenn.edu.

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