Take the Wellness Initiative to Save Money on Your Health Insurance in 2025

Did you participate in the Wellness Initiatives program last year?

If so, you are saving money this year on your health insurance costs (medical, prescription, dental, and vision). Perhaps you are not benefitting from the rate reductions in 2024 but want to know how to receive them in 2025.

Whether or not you participated for 2024, if you are covered by a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)-provided medical insurance plan through Cigna or Kaiser Permanente, you are eligible to participate in Wellness Initiatives and receive the rate reductions. You have until October 4, 2024, to meet the program requirements and reap the benefits in 2025. To maintain the rate deductions, you must participate in Wellness Initiatives each year.

There are two components to the Wellness Initiatives program: a biometric health screening and a health risk assessment.

Biometric Health Screening
MCPS will pay an additional 1 percent of the total cost of your health insurance (medical, prescription, dental, and vision plans) in 2025—reducing your contribution by 1 percent—if you complete a biometric health screening of your blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index (BMI), and cholesterol by October 4, 2024*. Your health screening may be completed by your primary care physician or by attending one of your insurance plan’s screenings held in MCPS central office locations throughout the year. These screenings are sponsored by Well Aware, the MCPS wellness program. Cigna members also have the option of completing their biometric health screening at a Quest Diagnostics Patient Care Center.

Health Risk Assessment
If you complete your medical insurance plan’s online health risk assessment by October 4, 2024*, you will reduce your contributions toward your health insurance by another 1 percent. To complete your yearly health risk assessment, visit your medical plan’s web page (Cigna or Kaiser Permanente) and log in to your password-protected account. (You may need to create an account first.) Then, follow the on-screen instructions.

You will find a chart that outlines the steps necessary to receive the rate reductions in 2025 in this issue of For Your Benefit. Further information is available on the Wellness Initiatives for Employees web page. There you will find helpful links to answers to frequently asked questions and instructions for finding out if you have received credit for your Wellness Initiatives participation.

Take the Wellness Initiative! Learn more.

*The time frame begins the first day of Employee Benefits Open Enrollment each fall and ends the Friday before the next Open Enrollment begins a year later.