To be compliant with federal regulations, all rewards must be taxed as they are earned, rather than redeemed. You will be taxed for the rewards that you and/ or your eligible spouse have earned. Taxes will be deducted from the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan subscriber’s paycheck within 4 pay cycles (or as it is reasonably feasible) from the time they are earned. As a reminder, please be sure to redeem your rewards by November 30, 2021. 

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, which is comprised of Social Security and Medicare, will be withheld from the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan subscriber’s paycheck. However, all earned rewards will be reported on employees’ 2021 W-2s as compensation and will be subject to federal and state withholdings. Therefore, the associated tax liability may impact the amount of taxes or refunds owed when your returns are filed. 

The 2021 FICA tax rate is 7.65% meaning $7.65 is deducted for each $100 redeemed. For example, if you earned the maximum of $500, a deduction of $38.25 would be applied.

If you are concerned about the tax that will be applied to your rewards and prefer to break up the deductions, you can spread out your taxed rewards by redeeming smaller amounts or increments.

A Next-Steps Consult is a 15-minute telephone conversation with a Health Guide to determine a member’s initial steps in their well-being journey.

The Triple Tracker is a feature in the platform which enables members to set and simultaneously track step counts, duration of physical activity, and duration of workouts.

The Healthy Habits feature facilitates the adoption of healthy behaviors through customized activities generated by a member’s inputs upon registration and completion of the Health Assessment. Healthy Habits allow members to record completion and numerical values daily. 

The Nutrition Guide is a comprehensive tool within the platform that offers practical guidance, nutrition improvement tips, evidence-based sample nutrition programs, and healthy recipes.

The Sleep Guide provides members customized strategies to improve and optimize their sleep and the ability to establish sleep goals and track and monitor sleep metrics, including quality and duration.

Yes. Members can invite up to 10 non-employee family members or friends to participate. Though invited participants can enjoy many of the platform’s features, they are ineligible to earn rewards.

Your opinion matters. Employees participating in Hoos Well are encouraged to complete surveys and partake in focus groups availed on a rolling basis as part of continuous quality improvement measures. Employees are advised to keep abreast of these opportunities via e-mail communications in the future.

All UVA employees and spouses on the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan are eligible to earn $500 each for completing actions toward good health. All rewards will be paid in gift cards which are instantly redeemable once the health action has been completed. All rewards are considered taxable income. Retirees, grant funded post-doctoral fellows, COBRA enrollees, and child dependents are not eligible for rewards.

Employees must have elected their benefits, and be enrolled in the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan,to be eligible to participate in the Hoos Well rewards campaign. If you are a new employee, or have recently elected Health Plan coverage and benefits, it can take 30 days from the date you submit your health benefits election for your information to be recognized in the portal. Contact Hoos Well or AskHR at 434.243.3344 if you have questions about your eligibility or benefits enrollment.

If you and your spouse are covered by the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan, you are already eligible to participate.

Yes, registering a new account is required to access the features on the enhanced Virgin Pulse platform.

Yes. Spouses or UPG Anthem Health Plan covered by the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan will need to register in the portal and create their own account in order to participate in activities and earn up to $500.

In an effort to protect your privacy and offer a secure tracking portal, you will only be able to see your own personal information and progress in the portal. In order to participate, your spouse must create an account and sign in separately from your account. Our system will recognize him/her as your spouse when they submit their details. Encourage your eligible spouse to participate to earn additional rewards!

All rewards earned by the spouse on the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan will be taxed from the Subscriber’s paycheck (see more details under Gift Cards).

Information collected and housed on the Hoos Well portal is confidential and in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Any information shared with Virgin Pulse will not be disclosed, except in accordance with HIPAA laws. Your Protected Health Information (PHI) will not be shared with your employer. See the UVA Hoos Well EEOC Notice and the Virgin Pulse Privacy Notice for details.

Participation in any Hoos Well initiative is completely voluntary. See EEOC notice for details. You may choose to participate in any activities in which you’re interested.

There are 12 ways to earn rewards (up to $500 each per participant). See Rewards Chart above for details.

No.

All rewards will be available instantly in the form of gift cards and redeemable in the Hoos Well portal. Self-selected electronic gift cards are ready to use immediately. Physical gift cards may be delayed due to processing and shipping.

You may choose when you would like to redeem your rewards. Please be certain to redeem all rewards by 11/30/2021. Any unredeemed rewards after this date may be subject to forfeiture.

All gift card options are found in the Rewards section of the portal. Some gift card options include:  Nike, Under Armour, Visa, Amazon, CVS, Whole Foods, The Home Depot, Petco, Apple Store/iTunes, Target, Kohls, Adidas, Callaway, Columbia, Gap, Nordstrom, Starbucks, TJMaxx/HomeGoods/Marshalls

You may also donate your rewards to one of many charities, including the UVA Children’s Hospital.

You will receive a code once you redeem your gift card in the Rewards section of the portal. A code will be sent to your email and you can use that code to shop online or in-person at the store. If you choose a physical gift card, you will incur a fee.

The only reward redemption option that has an expiration date is the Visa Promotional Prepaid Card. After selecting the Visa option, you have four months activate the e-card. Once you’ve activated your Visa Promotional Prepaid Card, you will have seven months to spend the remaining balance. Please see the Hoos Well portal (Rewards section) for information regarding out of country transactions with Visa.

Minimum limits are dependent on the gift card you choose.  

Yes, you can split your reward over multiple gift cards or charities.

You can go to the rewards section on the portal and view your history and redeem the code there.

Yes. You may also donate your rewards to one of many charities, including the UVA Children’s Hospital.

At this time, putting money towards your Health Savings Account is not available.

Once you log on to your portal, go to the rewards section and your balance will be displayed.

You can complete as many reward-eligible activities as you choose. If all or part of an activity's reward will cause you to exceed $500 in rewards, you will automatically receive only the amount that will bring you up to the $500 maximum. For example, if you have earned $475 in rewards and then complete a Journey, you will automatically receive $25, rather than the normal $50 reward for a Journey.

All information is subject to validation and audit from Virgin Pulse and/or the UVA Hoos Well Program.

We understand that you may have recently had a well check or have a regular time period in which you visit your Primary Care Provider for a yearly physical exam. We will accept any visit between December 1, 2019 and November 30, 2021. 

A well check or exam (sometimes called a check-up), is a preventative measure ensuring you get your key health numbers measured. It is also a time for communication with your physician. Some examples include a general physical exam, a women’s well exam, and an OB/GYN visit.

Check with your Health Plan Administrator (Aetna or Anthem) to identify in-network providers near you. Please be aware that if you establish care with a new physician, you may incur a fee.

Both the UVA Health Plan and the UPG Anthem Health Plan cover in full one annual preventive well check or general physical exam at 100%. Any discussion of symptoms, procedures performed during the visit, or any follow-up visits will be paid according to the copay and cost-sharing provisions of your particular plan. To ensure that you are not billed for a medical office visit, please schedule your appointment as a preventive “annual physical” or “wellness check.”

Like all other Hoos Well activities, completing the HA is completely voluntary. However, information you provide helps suggest recommended Journeys and other activities unique to you and your health needs and interests. The more information you submit, the more accurate and personalized your health recommendations and portal information will become. Use the portal to track your health information, learn about resources available to you, select meaningful goals, and engage in your well-being in a deeper way.

The health assessment can take anywhere from 15-20 minutes, depending on the pace with which you choose to answer the questions.

If you are unable to access your measurements through a patient portal, you can still complete the Health Assessment by advancing the survey to the next page. Keep in mind that your final report upon completion will not include the missing measurements.

Please see answer above under “Your health information and privacy”

Once you start the HA, you can save and come back to it when you are ready to complete it to earn your reward.

Though the Health Assessment does not allow for updates to individual questions, it will allow you to retake the entire assessment and generate a new report.

You can print your current HA in a PDF form with a synopsis of your answers. Please be aware that any HA information completed with previous vendors, including RedBrick Health, will not transfer into the Virgin Pulse platform. 

A Journey® is a way to make small changes and help you reach your specific goals, unique to you and your needs or interests. There are 46 Journeys available with specific focus on nutrition, physical activity, financial well-being, and emotional well-being.

Each Journey is worth $50.00. You can complete as many Journeys as you would like, but you can only earn rewards for up to 10.

Upon completion of the Health Assessment and/or personal profile, health activities unique to your interests and health goals will show in your portal based on your answers.

Each Journey is different. It can take anywhere from 10 – 28 days, depending on the nature of the Journey and how active you are on the portal.

Typically, each stage can be completed within approximately 4-5 steps.

You’ll have the ability to adjust your notification settings within the portal by scrolling down to “Email preferences” under “My profile.”

Challenges are opportunities to participate in a pre-determined health action. Challenges allow you to participate in one sustained activity (physical or emotional) for a predetermined amount of time.

Yes! You can participate in both at the same time. The choice is yours – pick what is most meaningful to you!

Hoos Well partners with UVA’s Faculty and Employee Assistance Program (FEAP) to offer hour-long educational seminars that support your emotional well-being and to help you learn how to manage stress, cope with life challenges, and thrive.

Browse upcoming seminars at www.uvafeap.com/events. Topics include managing stress, understanding mental health, caregiving, effective communication, coping with adversity, balancing work and life, and tools for flourishing. Click on a seminar’s tile to view the description, learning objectives, presenter’s bio, and registration links.

In 2021, you can earn $25 for participating in up to 4 emotional well-being seminars. Reward-eligible participation options include attending the virtual seminar or webinar. For each monthly seminar topic, you can only receive the reward for one of these participation methods.

Please submit any other questions or concerns to EmotionalWellbeing@virginia.edu.

Hoos Well partners with UVA Vendors TIAA and Fidelity to offer live, financial well-being webinars to improve your “Financial Fitness.” You can choose from a quarterly rotation of topics that includes spending, saving, investing, and retiring.

You can earn $25 in gift card rewards for participating in up to 4 financial well-being webinars.

Select and register for a webinar from the list here. After participating, record your attendance in the Hoos Well portal.

In 2021, employees and spouses enrolled on the UVA Health Plan or UPG Anthem Health Plan can earn a $25 in gift card rewards for getting your annual flu vaccine—a simple way to reduce the risk of flu-associated illness, doctor’s visits and hospitalization. Receive your flu vaccination between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021. Record the date and location of your vaccination in the Hoos Well portal to receive the reward.

There are many other ways to earn rewards in the Hoos Well portal. Choosing not to get a flu vaccine will not impact your ability to earn up to $500 in gift card rewards by participating in the other healthy activities listed above.