Premera Employees Have Fun While Making a Difference!

May 16, 2013 Leave a comment

Premera Olympics

Premera employees Dan O’Brien and Rosie Hill await the start of the Premera Olympics fundraiser for United Way.

Premera is serious about our commitment to make a difference in the health of the communities we serve, but we have fun doing it!  This year’s United Way of Snohomish County campaign at our Mountlake Terrace campus features two weeks of lively, zany, tasty and, yes, serious activities to drive home the theme of “Premera Strong, Community Strong.”

Thursday’s event was the first-ever Premera Olympics, pitting company executives (and their teams) against each other in ping pong, Kinect, basketball, and a 1K walk/run. Competition was  fierce, and Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were awarded to Corporate Services, Sales & Marketing, and Finance, respectively.

Other fundraising events have included a kickoff lunch complete with popular local food trucks and entertainment, an online auction, and a non-profit fair where Snohomish County area agencies demonstrated how United Way funding helps them serve our communities. Participating agencies include: Food LifeLine, Ryther Child Center,

Corporate Services contributor

Senior Services of Snohomish County, United Way of Snohomish County and Youth United, YouthCare, Childhaven, Cocoon House, Elder and Adult Day Services, Domestic Violence Services, American Red Cross of Snohomish County, and YMCA of Snohomish County.

Here’s the serious part: Through the generosity of employees, we’re aiming to reach our 2013 goal of $440,000 in donations, which will be matched 33 percent by Premera. Premera’s 2012 campaign helped to improve the lives of nearly 290,000 people, and we’re aiming higher this year!

Learn more about the United Way of Snohomish County

Filed under Premera Cares, Premera News Tagged with , , ,

Is Your Plan “Grandfathered”? How to Find Out

May 8, 2013 Leave a comment

healthcare reform The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduces new rules that affect plan choices and costs for people who buy their own healthcare coverage. However, if you’re a long-standing member and have been on your plan since March 2010 or earlier, some of these changes may not apply to you. Here’s our 5-minute guide to what it means to be “grandfathered.”

How do you know if you have a grandfathered plan?

A grandfathered plan is one that already existed when healthcare reform came into effect on March 23, 2010. If you were enrolled on your current plan on this date, your plan is grandfathered. If you’re unsure, our customer service team can help you answer that question.

What does it mean to have a grandfathered plan?

Grandfathered plans are exempt from adding many requirements included in the ACA, which helps you control the cost of your coverage. The only way your plan could lose grandfathered status is if you change health plans (or Premera makes significant changes to your benefits, co-pays, coinsurance, or deductible, which we don’t plan to do).

On the plus side, having a grandfathered plan keeps your monthly rates down, because you’re not paying for additional coverage. However, it also means that you don’t have access to certain additional benefits, like preventive screenings at no out-of-pocket cost to you, which may be of interest to you.

What’s coming in 2014?

New plans will become available in October 2013 that have additional benefits to comply with the ACA. These plans will start to provide coverage from January 2014. Your plan will remain as it is today. You can decide if you want to remain on your current plan or switch to one of the new plans. 

What are the pros of staying on your grandfathered plan?

  • It may help keep your costs down as the new plans could be significantly more expensive
  • The way your plan works will not change
  • No need to fill out another application—if you do nothing, we’ll keep you on your current plan

What are the cons of staying on your grandfathered plan?

  • You will not be eligible for federal subsidies—starting in 2014 some people will be able to get federal assistance towards the cost of their health plan
  • You will not receive the additional benefits offered under the ACA, such as maternity and some new prescription drug benefits

How do I make sure I’m getting the best deal for me and my family?

We understand that you want to make sure you’re getting the right balance of costs and benefits to suit your family. We’ll be publishing details of our new plans later this year after they’re approved by state regulators, along with guidance to help you make the best choice for your individual needs, including information about how to access federal subsidies if you qualify for them.

Filed under Healthcare Coverage 101, Healthcare Reform, Using Your Health Plan Tagged with ,

Fight Fat Using Product Labels

May 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Grocery label comparisonBy Heather Snively, MS, RD

Fourth in a series about using food labels to make healthy choices.

You’ve likely heard there is “good fat” and “bad fat.”  But did you know you can use food product labeling to make sure you eat the right kind? 

Trans fats are unsaturated fats (liquid at room temperature) that have been modified to be solid at room temperature through a process called hydrogenation. Fats that undergo the hydrogenation process are either partially hydrogenated or fully hydrogenated. Food manufacturers use these modified fats in processed foods to help keep them shelf-stable. 

When shopping, it’s important to keep in mind: Partially hydrogenated fats are likely to be trans fat—the “bad” kind of fat that is linked to many adverse health outcomes.

Food labels are required to list trans fat in the nutrition facts, but this can be misleading. If a food has less the 0.5 gram of trans fat per serving, it does not have to be listed in the nutrition facts. 

You can avoid all trans fat in your diet by always checking the ingredients list.  Look for fats listed as “partially hydrogenated,”  such as “partially hydrogenated soybean oil.”  They can show up in peanut butter, snacks, chips and frozen foods. 

Being an ingredient detective can ensure that you have a diet truly free of trans fat!

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Heather Snively, MS, RD, is a nutrition and wellness manager at Guckenheimer, an on-site corporate restaurant management and catering company.  She received her Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Washington in 2011.  Heather is passionate about helping others determine the best way to enjoy food and stay healthy.  Her food philosophy is simple:  moderation in all things, except for vegetables—eat all the vegetables you like.

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist Tagged with , ,

How Natural are “Natural” Products?

April 24, 2013 Leave a comment

Grocery shoppingBy Heather Snively, MS, RD

Third in a series about using food labels to make healthy choices.

When walking down a grocery store aisle filled with packages of food, manufacturers look for any kind of edge that they can get—either through lower cost or through something that brings attention to them on the label.  “Natural” is one of those words that people tend to associate with health—no doubt you’ve seen it  on many food labels.  But what are the requirements for a product to be labeled as natural? 

The answer?  There are no actual requirements for use of the term!

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates certain words on food labels, the word “natural” is not one of them.  The agency does not object to using this descriptor so long as it does not contain added color, artificial flavors or synthetic substances.  This allows a huge range of products to use the term.  Ingredients like whole wheat flour and disodium phosphate can be found on a “natural” food label.

So what is a shopper supposed to do?

Be a critical shopper.  If something has a natural label, look to see if you like the nutrition information, including the nutritional analysis and ingredients.  Read here to learn how.

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Heather Snively, MS, RD, is a nutrition and wellness manager at Guckenheimer, an on-site corporate restaurant management and catering company.  She received her Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Washington in 2011.  Heather is passionate about helping others determine the best way to enjoy food and stay healthy.  Her food philosophy is simple:  moderation in all things, except for vegetables—eat all the vegetables you like.

Filed under Ask a Nutritionist, Your Health Tagged with , ,

Premera Drug Safety Programs Encourage Communication Between Patients and Physicians

April 22, 2013 Leave a comment

Physician consultation with patientStudies show that consumers see an average of 2.7 different physicians each year. While there are benefits to receiving care from a variety of practitioners to meet your individual healthcare needs, there are also patient safety risks. Omissions in care and dangerous interactions between drugs can lead to medical problems for patients and a subsequent increase in medical costs.  

That’s why Premera has a number of programs in place to help ensure open communications between our members and their physicians as it relates to the prescription medications they are taking. 

RationalMed™ is a program that can help improve the safety of patients’ prescription regimens as they transition among doctors. By integrating medical and pharmaceutical claims, RationalMed™ provides doctors with a complete picture at all of the medications a patient has been recently prescribed by other physicians.

This information helps alert physicians to a patient’s pre-existing medical conditions and also  better equips them to help patients avoid unnecessary medical problems and costs.  Learn more about our RationalMed program.

Filed under Using Your Health Plan, Your Health Tagged with ,

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