Current Benefit News & Updates

2025 Active Employees

• Highmark Blue Shield: (844) 945-5509
• HealthEquity: (866) 346-5800
• United Concordia Dental: (800) 423-8217
• EyeMed Vision: (866) 939-3633
• SupportLinc Employee Assistance: (888) 501-3532

Active Employee Health Plan ID Cards:

• Full-time and part-time employees enrolled in a medical plan election for 2025, WILL receive new ID cards from Highmark Blue Shield, with an expected arrival date at their homes prior to January 1, 2025.
• Highmark ID cards will be for both medical and prescription coverage on one card.

If you have not received your card by January 2, 2025:

• You should first check/update your mailing address on file at accounts.psu.edu or contact HR Services at (814) 865-1473 for address change assistance.
• Call Highmark at (844) 945-5509 to request additional ID cards be mailed to your home.
• You may also download the My Highmark phone app or use your computer to access your My Highmark account to obtain your digital ID card.

Health Savings Account (HSA) Elections:

• Employees newly enrolled in the Lion Advantage HSA plan WILL receive Health Savings Account (HSA) Welcome Kits from HealthEquity at their homes, including a debit card, prior to January 1, 2025.
• Employees who are remaining in the Lion Advantage HSA plan for 2025 will NOT receive new debit cards from HealthEquity. The current cards will be replaced prior to the expiration date or report of loss/damage to the card.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Elections:

• Employees newly enrolled in the Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) WILL receive a Welcome Kit/Debit Card from HealthEquity at their homes prior to January 1, 2025.
• Employees newly enrolled in the Dependent Care FSA will receive a Welcome Kit from HealthEquity at their homes prior to January 1, 2025.
• Employees re-electing the Health Care FSA will NOT receive new debit cards. The current cards will be replaced prior to the expiration date or upon report of loss/damage to the card.

Dental and/or Vision Elections:

• Employees newly enrolled in a United Concordia Dental and/or EyeMed Vision plans WILL receive ID cards at their homes prior to January 1, 2025.
• Existing employees remaining in the Dental and/or Vision plans for 2024 will NOT receive new ID cards, as the current cards are still active.
• You may also download an app for United Concordia Dental and/or EyeMed to obtain your digital ID card.

Confidential Employee Resources Always Available

If you are in need immediate support during the winter break, please reach out to our Employee Assistance Program, SupportLinc by calling 1-888-501-3532.  SupportLinc is available on a confidential basis for in-the-moment support. You can also review our additional online SupportLinc information for other support resources such as Textcoach, Animo, and Digital Support Groups.

2025 Retirees

• Highmark Blue Shield (Non-Medicare): (844) 945-5509
• Highmark Freedom Blue (Medicare): (866) 918-5285

Non-Medicare Eligible Retirees: For retirees who have made a health care change for 2025 (Retiree Lion Traditional or Retiree Lion Advantage), new ID cards WILL be issued by Highmark Blue Shield, with an expected arrival date at their homes prior to January 1, 2025. If you have not received your card by January 2, 2025, please contact HR Services at (814) 865-1473 to change/update your mailing address on file. You may also download the My Highmark phone app or use your computer to access your My Highmark account to obtain your digital ID card.

Medicare-Eligible Retirees: Highmark Freedom Blue PPO will remain the health care plan for 2025. New ID cards WILL be issued by Highmark, with an expected arrival date at their homes prior to January 1, 2025. New enrollees receive ID cards shortly after enrollment throughout the year.

While the holiday season is delightful, it can also be a hectic time of year filled with activities, travel plans and family gatherings. Balancing mental and physical wellbeing during the holiday season can make you feel pressed for time and energy. If the stress of the holidays starts to affect your mental and physical health, seeking extra support could be beneficial. SupportLinc offers a variety of resources, including in-the-moment phone support, coaching, counseling, online courses, videos and tip sheets. Visit your web portal or mobile app to get started.

Within the SupportLinc Mental Health Navigator personalized assessment, a question related to Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) has been added to better support members in their mental health journey. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes and your quality of life. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age. Finding information and tools to address these factors can be challenging. SupportLinc is available to help members navigate needs, find effective strategies and improve overall wellbeing.

Take the guesswork out of your mental health with SupportLinc’s Mental Health Navigator

When life gets hectic, your emotional wellbeing can sometimes fall to the bottom of your to-do list. If you are coping with a stressful situation, uncertainty about the future or challenges at work or home, getting guidance on where to turn can be a big relief. SupportLinc is committed to helping you access the care and support you need to strengthen your emotional fitness. Learn how to get started below:

• If you haven’t yet taken the Mental Health Navigator survey for personalized mental health support, begin here. Complete an anonymous and confidential survey telling us a little about yourself — your emotions and feelings and how they impact everyday life. SupportLinc recently added a question to the survey to help members navigate needs, find effective strategies and improve overall wellbeing.
• Get immediate results with a personalized report that measures your overall wellbeing and recommends care options. The results will provide you with important information that can direct you to help that is relevant to your situation. If needed, SupportLinc will include the new SupportLinc- Quality of Life Resource Kit.
• There are other toolkits and resources available for all types of mental health stress and needs on the SupportLinc website.

• If you are seeking resources specific to your needs, SupportLinc also offers in-the-moment guidance and support that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at no cost to you. Call 888-501-3532.

Read more here: Understanding the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) to learn more about the key components and importance of SDOH.

Remember that your SupportLinc EAP is a resource.  SupportLinc is available to Penn State benefits-eligible employees including the household members (spouses, dependents and anyone who lives with you) at no cost and confidentially. The program offers everyone a variety of wellbeing resources to keep everyone at their best whenever, wherever needed, including in-the-moment phone support, coaching, short-term counseling, work life balance support, online courses, videos and tip sheets. Visit your program’s desktop or eConnect mobile app to get started at supportlinc.com with group code pennstate.

UHS is happy to announce that Penn State employees and their dependents 18 years and older, covered under the Penn State Highmark insurance plan, will be able to make an appointment with UHS Pharmacy for their annual flu shot. Please schedule your appointment online or you may call the pharmacy at 814-865-4847, option 1. Please have your insurance card available if you are new to our pharmacy. Parking is available inside the Eisenhower Parking Deck. Please use the pharmacy spaces provided on the ground level.

According to a recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) study, nearly 1.7 million American adults attempt suicide each year and 2.3 million seriously consider it. This month is a time to focus on raising awareness while learning to recognize the concerns that can contribute to a high suicide rate. While suicide is a challenging topic to discuss, prevention starts with awareness. Whether you are struggling, know someone who is having difficulty or have lost someone to suicide, National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month provides the opportunity for acknowledgment and discussion about this public health concern.

Remember our EAP provider, SupportLinc, is a resource. SupportLinc is available to benefits-eligible employees including the household members (spouses, dependents and anyone who lives with you) at no cost and confidentially. The program offers everyone a variety of wellbeing resources to keep everyone at their best whenever, wherever needed, including in-the-moment phone support, coaching, short-term counseling, work life balance support, online courses, videos and tip sheets. Visit your program’s desktop or eConnect mobile app to get started at supportlinc.com with group code pennstate.

The Department of Education created an On Ramp to Repayment to provide an additional grace period for borrowers who may have been unable to begin repaying their loans immediately. This period of protection ends on September 30, 2024. After this date, the rules from pre-COVID-19 forbearance will take effect:

• Student loans can fall into delinquency or default
• Missed payments can be reported to credit bureaus
• Credit scores can drop as a result of missed payments
• Missed payments can be reported to debt collection agencies

Before the on-ramp period ends, we want to ensure you’re making the lowest monthly payment possible to maximize your forgiveness. Through Penn State and TIAA, you have access to a free student loan benefit, Savi, whose mission is to get you on track with your student loan payments, assess your eligibility for forgiveness and repayment programs, and make sure you’re prepared as the on-ramp ends.

Learn more and get all your questions answered at Savi’s next upcoming webinar on August 28th, 2024 at 2PM ET. Register today!

SupportLinc EAP recently released a new program feature, Mindstream, which offers live and on-demand sessions to empower our employees to strengthen emotional fitness and build resilience.

In celebration of the launch, SupportLinc will aim to set an official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the world's largest mindfulness livestream - and YOU can be part of it!

• DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 2024
• TIME: 11 am EST
• LOCATION: mindstreamlive.com
• DURATION: 10 minutes

This event is a special opportunity to highlight the importance of taking proactive steps for our mental health and will feature a 10-minute breaking exercise led by Mike Maher, a Mindstream subject matter expert and the host of YouTube's #1 breathwork channel, Take a Deep Breath. 

SupportLinc EAP would love for Penn State benefits-eligible employees and household members to join in this event!

Visit minstreamlive.com to learn more.

The newsletter helps educate employees about the value of their employer-sponsored retirement benefits. The issue below focuses on SERS-provided retirement plan resources, including upcoming live webinars, and how employees can keep taxes from taking an oversized bite out of their retirement plan contributions.

Read the Spring/Summer 2024 SERS News and contact your SERS representative with any questions!

On April 8, 2024, the moon will perfectly align with the sun, casting a shadow upon the Earth and creating a total solar eclipse. The total solar eclipse will cross North America- passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada. This rare phenomenon offers a unique opportunity to observe the beauty and complexity of our solar system.

As we witness this wonder of nature, let’s keep those eyes safe! Below are two links with helpful information on eye safety and general information on the eclipse.

• What Happens If You Look at a Solar Eclipse? (allaboutvision.com)
• Where & When | Eclipse 2024 Tabs – NASA Solar System Exploration

Ozempic Coupons

For those who've been prescribed Ozempic and are using coupons, a cyber attack has caused an issue with the ability to use these coupons. This is not a Highmark issue, but rather a Change Healthcare (the company who provides/processes the coupons). Highmark is able to assist employees experiencing this problem by reaching out to the Highmark Concierge Team at (844) 945-5509. Information regarding Change Healthcare and the cyber attach can be found on the Change Healthcare website.

HealthEquity Phishing Email

HealthEquity has become aware of criminal efforts to lure members to fake websites impersonating HealthEquity. The fraudsters aim to capture unsuspecting members’ login credentials and use them to access accounts on the real HealthEquity website (www.healthequity.com). 

HealthEquity systems have not been compromised. They are actively monitoring for and securing impacted accounts and are working with relevant authorities to remove fraudulent websites from the internet. HealthEquity is reaching out to impacted individuals to assist them in securing their accounts, and will be providing proactive education to help account holders stay vigilant and avoid scams. If you receive a suspicious email, please send it to [email protected].

An email sent to Penn State employees starting Monday, 01/08/2024, with subject line “Important information About Your Health Equity Account” is a phishing email.

Do not click the link in the email. If you have clicked the link and provided your PSU password, please go to accounts.psu.edu, and change your password immediately. Please do not accept any unexpected Duo/MFA authentication requests if you are not actively signing in. PSU will NEVER text you for your MFA code. 

If you clicked the link and provided the login for your HealthEquity account, then you would need to go in and manually change it or you could reach out to Member Services at (866) 346-5800 and Health Equity can assist with changing your password.

While it's not unusual to receive an email from HealthEquity, the link in the email does not go to healthequity.com. You can hover over the URL to see where it goes before clicking on it. HealthEquity emails come from updates@healthequity.com, while this email came from [email protected]. This can be a sign of phishing. 

When you get an email requesting urgent action, take a moment to examine it extra carefully before you proceed. Anyone can make an email impersonating Health Equity, but if you forward the email to [email protected] we can let you know if it is phishing. 

Please forward the email to [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also see https://www2.healthequity.com/protect for more steps on how to report this to Health Equity if you believe your account was compromised. HealthEquity has also been made aware of this phishing attempt for HealthEquity data.

Thank you for being vigilant and changing your password(s) as needed.