Earn Rewards for Participating in Hoos Well Programs
Hoos Well launched a new, interactive wellbeing portal in 2019 with the help of RedBrick Health, a nationally recognized wellness vendor. This portal is designed to provide employees and spouses covered by the UVA Health Plan personalized opportunities to engage with their health. This platform provides you access to a powerful set of tools, plus expert guidance and support, to help you create healthy habits and reach your personalized wellness goals.
Log into the Hoos Well PortalHoos Well is excited to announce changes for 2020 based on the feedback you submitted over the past year regarding your needs and interests. In 2020, you can earn rewards for completing additional activities, such as:
The table below lists healthy activities currently planned for 2020 and associated rewards.
| Healthy Activity | What You Need To Do | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Health Assessment | Complete your health assessment | $100 |
| Annual Well Check | Record your completed annual well exam between 12/1/19 - 11/30/20 | $200 |
| Physical Activity Challenges | Participate in a friendly, healthy activity competition | $50 |
| RedBrick Journeys® | Complete a Journey tailored to your lifestyle & interests | $50 each |
| Mindfulness Challenge | Complete 4 weeks of mindfulness-related activities | $25 |
| Emotional wellbeing seminars | Participate live in-person or via webinar, or watch the recording on-demand | $25 each |
| Financial wellbeing webinars | Attend your choice of webinars | $25 each |
| Flu Vaccine | Record the date and location of your vaccination | $25 |
Please note: Each time you earn rewards in the Hoos Well portal, you are self-attesting that you have completed an activity. Please be aware that your reporting is subject to validation and audit from RedBrick Health and/or the UVA Hoos Well Program.
Employees and spouses enrolled on the UVA Health Plan are eligible to earn up to $500 each for completing these healthy activities. From January 15, 2020 through November 30, 2020, you can pick and choose which activities spark your interest. Not only will you reap the benefits of improving your wellbeing, you’ll also be able to earn monetary rewards. All rewards will be instantly redeemable as gift cards. You can redeem rewards in your personalized Hoos Well portal. Rewards are considered taxable income. Please remember to redeem your rewards by November 30, 2020 or they will be forfeited.
Browse answers to frequently asked questions about the Hoos Well Portal, rewards, and these new opportunities to earn. Click the links below to jump to the section that interests you:
All UVA employees and spouses on the UVA 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, and COBRA enrollees are not eligible for rewards.
Employees must have elected their benefits 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, you are already eligible to participate. Register on the portal and get started earning health rewards. You can also download the RedBrick Health App on your smartphone in the Apple Store or Google Play. Search “RedBrick Health,” Sponsor: Hoos Well, to access your account details anywhere, anytime.
Please call RedBrick Health at 1.833.724.8638.
Yes. Spouses covered by the UVA 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 will be taxed from the Subscriber’s paycheck (see more details under “Gift Cards”).
Hoos Well wants to provide you with relevant resources and tools to be healthy. The information you're submitting is voluntary and is being collected and submitted to HIPAA-approved Health Plan Partners with whom the UVA Health Plan has signed a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. Your information will be used for HIPAA-permitted “treatment, payment and health care operations” purposes, including follow-up health-education, disease management, and improvement of the UVA Health Plan and the Hoos Well program. Our providers may use the information collected to send you invitations to participate in health improvement programs that are specific to your needs. The invitations to these programs are completely voluntary and kept confidential, between the providers and the UVA Health Plan. Although participation is encouraged, you are welcome to decline participation for any invitation that you may receive. The information is also used at an aggregate level, to report on UVA Health Plan participants’ health status as a whole. All reporting at the institutional level is de-identified and in aggregate form. For example, we may report that 8% of our participants, report tobacco use.
If you choose to participate in the 2020 rewards campaign you will be asked to complete a voluntary health assessment or "HA" that asks a series of questions about your health-related activities and behaviors and whether you have or had certain medical conditions (e.g., cancer, diabetes, or heart disease). You will also be asked to complete an Adult Well Exam, which may include health-related measures, such as a blood test for Total Cholesterol and Glucose screenings. You are not required to complete the HA or to participate in the Adult Well Exam or other medical examinations.
The completion of these modules will not require the disclosure or collection of any health information nor require the participation in any health-related activities. The information from your HRA and the results from your Adult Well Exam will be used to provide you with information to help you understand your current health and potential risks, and may also be used to offer you services through the Hoos Well and other wellness and care coordination programs offered by the University; examples of such programs are Hoos Well Advocacy, and Lifestyle Coaching. You also are encouraged to share your results or concerns with your primary care physician.
Your information is secure, private, and will not be used by your employer to discriminate against you, nor can you be retaliated against by the information submitted (or by choosing not to participate in these programs).
There are 8 ways to earn rewards (up to $500 each per participant):
All rewards will be available instantly in the form of gift cards and redeemable in the Hoos Well portal. Self-selected gift cards are ready to use immediately.
Gift cards offer the opportunity for instant rewards as you complete healthy actions or activities in real-time. RedBrick Health offers a variety of options for you to choose from.
Your rewards are instant and can be redeemed once you complete a healthy action item. You may choose when you would like to redeem your rewards. Please be certain to redeem all rewards by the end date of the Campaign. Any unredeemed rewards after this date will be forfeited.
Gift cards are immediately redeemable once earned. You'll be able to spend your rewards when you want, how you want. Choose from many available gift card options or donation to non-profit organizations.
All gift card options are found in the Rewards section of the portal. Gift card options available are: Amazon, Applebees, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Groupon, Home Depot, iTunes, Nike, REI, Starbucks, Target, Visa, HomeGoods, TJMaxx, Marshalls, and Whole Foods.
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. You will have the ability to print the code or show the card from your smart phone to pay in-store.
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.
There is no limit as to how little or how much you can put on your gift card(s), up to the $500 total eligible to earn.
Yes; you can split any amount of money over as many gift cards as you would like.
You can go to the rewards section on the portal and view your history and redeem the code there.
There are currently five charities to choose from: RED, American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, National Parks Foundation, and World of Children. Please note: If you choose to donate your earned rewards to one of the five charities listed, RedBrick and the University of Virginia will be unable to provide a receipt for your charitable contribution.
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.
To be compliant with federal regulations, all rewards must be taxed. However, you will only be taxed for the rewards that you or your eligible spouse have redeemed. If a spouse redeems his/her rewards, the taxes will be deducted from the UVA Health Plan subscriber’s paycheck within 4 pay cycles (or as it is reasonably feasible) from the time of redemption. As a reminder, please be sure to redeem your rewards by November 30, 2020 or they will be forfeited.
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – which is composed of two taxes, (Social Security and Medicare) will be withheld from the UVA Health Plan subscriber’s paycheck. However, all redeemed rewards will be reported on employees’ 2020 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 2020 FICA tax rate is 7.65% meaning $7.65 is deducted for each $100 redeemed. As an example: If you redeemed 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.
All information is subject to validation and audit from RedBrick Health 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, 2020. Please note, you will only be rewarded for one visit within this date range.
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.
You can visit Aetna to browse in-network providers near you. Please be aware that if you establish care with a new physician, you may incur a fee.
The UVA Health Plan covers 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 wellbeing in a deeper way.
The health assessment can take anywhere from 10-20 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 Risk 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 will not transfer into the RedBrick platform.
A RedBrick 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 57 Journeys available with specific focus on nutrition, physical activity, financial wellbeing, and emotional wellbeing.
Each Journey is worth $50.00. You can do as many Journeys as you would like. These new opportunities are included in the Journeys and you must choose one Journey from each of these categories in order to receive the full reward.
When you first register your account, there will be prepopulated (randomly selected) Journeys. Once you fill out the Health Assessment, Journeys unique to your interests and unique health goals will show in your portal based off your answers.
There is no limit to the number of Journeys you can complete. However, you cannot earn more than $500 in total from your wellbeing activities.
Each Journey is different. It can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks depending on how active you are on the portal.
Typically, each stage can be completed within approximately 4-5 steps.
You can decide how frequently you want to receive notifications or reminders about the Journeys you select. When you first select and “commit” to a Journey, you will have the option to choose the frequency in which you receive notifications. You can change your notification preferences after you have started a Journey.
You can redo a Journey you’ve already completed (or started) in the past, but you will have to wait until the next year’s campaign period before earning the reward for the same Journey again.
Challenges are bi-annual opportunities to participate in a pre-determined health action. Challenges offer a different option from Journeys, allowing you to participate in one sustained activity (physical or emotional) for a predetermined amount of time.
Physical Activity Challenges offer a chance to engage in a healthy activity competition.
The Mindfulness Challenge is a real-life way to forge relationships, foster healthy habits and create well-being. For each of the 4 weeks of the challenge, you’ll receive new resources to help you create greater physical, emotional, and social well-being.
Three Challenges will be offered for the 2020 Campaign year; two physical activity challenges and one emotional wellbeing challenge. Stay tuned for more details and communications around the Challenges and ways to participate to earn.
For each Physical Activity challenge, you can earn $1/day for each day you track at least 30 minutes of activity, up to a maximum of $50 per challenge.
You can earn $25 for completing all 4 weeks of the emotional wellbeing (Mindfulness) challenge.
Yes! You can participate in both at the same time. The choice is yours – pick what is most meaningful to you!
Mindfulness is one type of meditation, or mental training. It is a way of training your attention so you can bring it, and keep it, where you want. Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, defines it as “the practice of paying attention, on purpose, to the moment you are in without judgment.”
The specific benefits of mindfulness are well documented by science and include enhanced ability to focus, greater resilience and ability to manage emotional impulses, more rapid recovery from adversity, less impact from stress, less anxiety and depression, improved sleep, and improved self-control.
After completing all 4 weeks of the Mindfulness Challenge, please complete the completion form in the Hoos Well portal, which asks for the Web address of you completion certificate. Please note that you will not receive your completion certificate until you have checked the box at the bottom of each week's webpage that says "I have completed Week # of the Mindfulness Challenge."
If you have questions, please review the step-by-step instruction guide that includes screenshots. For further questions, please contact Redbrick Health at 833-724-8638.
The Mindfulness Challenge was designed by, and is made available through, Aetna. You can read their privacy policy here.
The Mindfulness Challenge is administered by Aetna Resources for Living, the brand name used for products and services offered through the Aetna group of subsidiary companies. You can contact Resources for Living here.
Hoos Well is providing all UVA employees and spouses with free access to eM Life, an online mindfulness platform that can be integrated into your active schedule. eM Life includes many resources that can be applied to everyday life and chronic conditions to promote health, happiness, stress management and self-care. The Mindfulness Challenge is meant to introduce you to mindfulness, and we’re offering eM Life to help you learn new skills and support your ongoing practice.
Hoos Well partners with UVA’s Faculty and Employee Assistance Program (FEAP) to offer hour-long educational seminars that support your emotional wellbeing 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 2020, you can earn $25 for participating in one or more emotional wellbeing seminars. Reward-eligible participation options include attending the in-person seminar, attending the live webinar, and watching the recording on-demand. For each seminar, you can only receive the reward for one of these three participation methods.
To register for the live, in-person seminar, click the “Register for in-person seminar” button on the seminar’s webpage. Click the green “Register” button in Eventbrite and complete the registration form. (Eventbrite is a UVA-approved application for managing registration for University-related events.)
To register for the live webinar, click the “Register for webinar” button on the seminar’s webpage. Complete the registration form on the Zoom website and click the orange “Register” button toward the bottom of the page.
To watch the webinar recording on-demand, find the webinar in the "Past Seminars" section, toward the bottom of www.uvafeap.com/events. Click the “Watch on-demand” button on the seminar’s webpage. Complete the registration form to be able to view the video.
Note: the on-demand option will not be available until the day after live webinar has occurred. If you do not see the “Watch on-demand” button, please check back at a later date.
There will be nine, monthly seminars offered in 2020. You can earn rewards for as many of these as you choose, up to the $500 maximum for rewards.
Please submit any other questions or concerns to EmotionalWellbeing@virginia.edu.
Hoos Well partners with UVA Vendors TIAA and Fidelity to offer live, financial wellbeing 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 each financial wellbeing webinar you attend. You can earn rewards for as many of these as you choose, up to the $500 maximum for rewards.
Select and register for a webinar from the list here. After participating, record your attendance in the Hoos Well portal.
In 2020, employees and spouses enrolled on the UVA Health Plan can earn a $25 in gift card rewards for getting your annual flu shot—a simple way to reduce the risk of flu-associated illness, doctor’s visits and hospitalization.
Receive your flu vaccination between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020. 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 shot will not impact your ability to earn up to $500 in gift card rewards by participating in the other healthy activities listed above.