Wellness Incentive Program Rules & Guidelines
Overview
What is the Wellness Incentive Program?
Earn up to or $200 cash or 50,000 Rewards Program points when you complete Wellness Incentive Program activities. The program encourages employees and their spouses/domestic partners to take charge of their lives and well-being by completing a variety of wellness activities that promote healthy eating, physical activity, personal coaching, and preventive care. We also support a work culture of wellness where employees feel, live, and work better. Staying or getting healthy helps keep insurance costs down for both you and your family as well as the County.
Pinellas County reserves the right to make changes to the incentive program, choice of rewards, and to make determinations as to qualifications for earning rewards.
Who is eligible?
- Medical Plan Enrollees: Permanent employees enrolled in Pinellas County’s medical plan are eligible for all incentives.
- Opt Outs: Permanent employees who opt out of medical coverage are eligible to earn rewards for preventive screenings, County Wellness Challenges, and flu shots, but not for the Cigna programs (Health Coaching, Omada, Chronic Condition Care Coordination, and Maternity Support).
- Spouses/Partners: Employee spouses and domestic partners enrolled in the County’s medical plan are eligible for all incentives.
- Temporary Employees: Not eligible.
How are activities tracked?
- MyCigna Wellness tracks all incentive activity completions except opt out preventive screenings. Opt outs attest to completion in MyCigna Wellness as a Self Reported Activity and may be randomly asked to provide verification upon request.
- All incentive activities are rewarded semi-annually. It takes about 8 weeks to process reports after June 30 and December 31. The schedule shown below applies to cash in your paycheck or Rewards Program points. For more information, see rewards.
Wellness Incentive Payout Schedule (Semi-Annual)
Activities Completed | Reward Points Election Deadline (if desired) | Incentive Rewarded |
July to December 2023 | December 31, 2023 | March 2024 |
January to June 2024 | June 30, 2024 | September 2024 |
July to December 2024 | December 31, 2024 | March 2025 |
How to Begin
Choose your incentive activities and start any time in 2024. Rewards are awarded based on date of completion and must be completed by December 31, 2024. View the activities below or see the incentive chart summary.
Preventive Screenings
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Annual physical, colonoscopy, dental preventive exam, mammogram, OB/GYN exam, pap test | $50 each, up to $200 | 12,500 each, up to 50,000 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- For employees on a County medical plan, rewards are claim-based which can take up to 90 days to process.
- Screenings completed anytime in 2024 qualify.
- Opt outs will attest to completion as a Self Reported Activity in MyCigna Wellness and may be randomly asked to provide verification upon request.
- Diagnostic procedures are not considered preventive screenings.
Pinellas County Wellness Challenge
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Pinellas County Wellness Challenge | $25 each, up to $50 | 6,250 each, up to 12,500 | Yes | No | Yes |
- Participate in a County-organized 4-week wellness challenge in July and October (registration closed).
- Challenge details and requirements to earn the incentive will be communicated by the Wellness Program staff.
Flu Shot
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Influenza vaccination | $25 | 6,250 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- For employees on a County medical plan, rewards are claim-based which can take up to 90 days to process.
- Opt outs will attest to completion as a Self Reported Activity in MyCigna Wellness and may be randomly asked to provide verification upon request.
Health Coaching
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Choose in-person (with a Cigna onsite coach), online, or phone health coaching | $50 | 12,500 | Yes | Yes | No |
- Sign up for one-on-one support with a knowledgeable Health Coach as follows:
- In-person coaching: Work with a Cigna onsite coach.
- Online coaching: Enroll at MyCigna Wellness. Log in to www.myCigna.com, visit Wellness & Incentives and scroll down to click View all incentives. Select Online Health Coaching and pick one of the following: asthma, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, diabetes, diet, exercise, heart failure, stress, and weight loss. You will be redirected to the WebMD website.
- Phone coaching: Call (800) 862-3557, option 6.
- You are eligible to earn rewards if you make progress toward or achieve your goal.
- You may receive rewards for completing more than one health coaching series.
Omada for Cigna Diabetes Prevention Program
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Online personalized diabetes prevention program (if eligible) | $50 | 12,500 | Yes | Yes | No |
Sign up for this personalized online health program to prevent diabetes and heart disease.
- Visit OmadaHealth.com/PinellasCounty and click the Am I eligible? button.
- Complete the online questionnaire which will determine if you meet the clinical enrollment criteria to participate.
- After completing the application, you will receive an email from support@omadahealth.com within 2 business days saying whether you’ve been accepted. If accepted, the email will provide instructions to set up your Omada account online.
- Participants must complete at least 9 weeks to qualify for the incentive.
Chronic Condition Care Coordination
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Support to manage a chronic diagnosis (if eligible) | $100 | 25,000 | Yes | Yes | No |
- Must be medically qualified with a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease, asthma, or COPD.
- Call Cigna at (800) 862-3557 to see if you are eligible. If Cigna identifies you as a qualified candidate, they may reach out to you by phone.
Maternity Support
Activity | Cash | Reward Points | Employee | Spouse/Partner (on County plan) | Opt Out |
Get support and guidance during your pregnancy (if eligible) | up to $200* | Up to 50,000 | Yes | Yes | No |
- To enroll, call Cigna at (800) 862-3557, option 1 to speak with a nurse. Cigna may reach out to you by phone if you are a qualified candidate.
- For the greatest benefit to you and your baby, it is best to enroll in the first trimester of your pregnancy although enrollment is open during the second trimester.
Earn Rewards
Earn up to $200 or 50,000 points per year. Please note that all incentives are taxable under the federal law.
When can I earn rewards?
You can earn rewards toward the 2024 Wellness Incentive Program for activities completed between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024.
May I elect to have points instead of cash?
Yes. All employees default to cash each calendar year which is added to your payroll check, as earned, on a semi-annual basis.
If you prefer reward points (to redeem items on the Rewards Program website), you need to elect to receive rewards points every year. The deadline to elect points is June 30 for activities completed in the first half of the year and December 31 for activities completed in the second half of 2024 (view the Wellness Incentive Payout Schedule).
Do I have to see a certain medical provider to earn rewards?
No; however, we recommend you visit in-network providers when possible as they cost less.
Redeem Rewards
How do I redeem cash?
- Cash rewards will be deposited in your paycheck on a semi-annual basis according to the payout schedule.
How do I redeem points?
- Visit the Pinellas County Rewards Program (for security purposes, this is a SharePoint link for employees only) to access the website where you can redeem your points from an online gift catalog.
- Your rewards account updates semi-annually with the points earned in the previous 6 months.
Where can I view my rewards balance?
- View MyCigna Wellness to enroll in and track activity completions. Log in to www.mycigna.com, click on Wellness (right side in the top menu), and select Wellness & Incentives. Scroll down to select the View all incentives link. There are two tabs on the All Incentives page: Available Incentives and Completed Incentives.
- MyCigna Wellness tracks completions using point balances. For cash amounts, see charts above.
What about rewards for my spouse or domestic partner?
Rewards for spouses/domestic partners are added to the employee’s paycheck or their Rewards Program account if the employee elects points.
Will I receive rewards if I leave the County or retire?
You have 90 days to redeem points in the Reward Program website; however, if you earned awards in cash, you must be an active employee at the time incentives are rewarded in your paycheck.
Are rewards taxable?
Yes. According to IRS guidelines, Wellness Incentive Program reward points or cash are taxable upon receipt.
- Cash: Cash incentives are taxable at 100% of the value which is auto-calculated and withheld from that paycheck.
- Points: The taxable cash value of reward points is 70%. For example, the taxable value of 12,500 points which equates to $50 cash is $35. This cash value is added to your gross pay for calculating taxes (withholding, Social Security, and Medicare) and then deducted from your net pay since it is not cash.
Per IRS guidelines, service reward points awarded for new hires, service anniversaries, or retirement are not taxable (login to SharePoint required).
Confidentiality
Who can see my information?
Our business practices are in full compliance with the privacy requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Human Resources, your supervisor and other management do not have access to your MyCigna Wellness account, medical claims information, biometric screening results, or answers to the online health assessment.
Since employees and covered spouses/partners have separate online myCigna.com accounts, each can see only their own activities.
Documentation
Do I need to submit proof every time I complete an activity?
- If you are on a County medical plan, with a few exceptions, Cigna automatically tracks completed activities in MyCigna Wellness. For example, preventive screenings such as a colonoscopy are updated once Cigna processes the claim. Please allow up to 90 days for processing. For the Apps and Activities self reported activities, you may be randomly selected to provide verification of completion (program discontinued on April 27, 2024).
- If you opt out of the County’s medical plan, please attest to completion in the Self Reported Activities section of your MyCigna Wellness dashboard. Please note, you may be randomly selected to provide verification of completion.
Questions
- Visit the Wellness Incentive Program.
- Contact Wellness Program staff by email at wellness@pinellas.gov or call (727) 464-3367, option 1.
10/23/24