SOAR AHEAD™
Wellness Program Notice
The SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program is administered by SOAR AHEAD, according to federal rules permitting benefit-plan-sponsored wellness programs seeking to improve participant health or prevent disease, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as applicable, among others. If you choose to participate in the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, depending on the type of program, you may be asked to complete a voluntary health risk assessment or "HRA" asking 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 may also be asked to complete a biometric screening, which will include a blood test for diabetes, cholesterol levels and heart disease. You are not required to complete the HRA or to participate in the blood test or other medical examinations.
However, participants who choose to participate in the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, depending on the type of program, may receive a product, gift card or cash equivalent (i.e., premium deduction, deductible buy-down) incentive for completing the actions stated above. Although you are not required to participate in any activities of the program, only participants who do so will receive the corresponding incentive.
Additional incentives, depending on the type of program, may be available for participants who participate in certain health-related activities (i.e., health and fitness challenges, digital coaching modules and seminars) or achieve certain health outcomes. If you are unable to participate in any of the health-related activities or achieve any of the health outcomes required to earn an incentive, you may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation or an alternative standard, though physician documentation of the need for such an accommodation or alternative standard are required. You may request a reasonable accommodation or an alternative standard by contacting the toll-free Wellness Navigator Line at 1-888-558-6825.
The information from your HRA and the results from your biometric screening 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 SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, such as disease management programs. You also are encouraged to share your results or concerns with your own doctor.
PROTECTIONS FROM DISCLOSURE OF MEDICAL INFORMATION
We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your personally identifiable health information. Although the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program and your benefit Administrator may use aggregate information it collects to design a program based on identified health risks in the workplace, we will never disclose any of your personal information either publicly or to your Benefit Plan Administrator or your union or your employer, except as necessary to respond to a request from you for a reasonable accommodation needed to participate in the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, or as expressly permitted by law. Medical information personally identifying you provided in connection with the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program will not be provided to your supervisors or managers and may never be used to make decisions regarding your employment.
Your health information will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or otherwise disclosed except to the extent permitted by law to carry out specific activities related to the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, and you will not be asked or required to waive the confidentiality of your health information as a condition of participating in the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program or receiving an incentive. Anyone who receives your information for purposes of providing you services as part of the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program will abide by the same confidentiality requirements. The only individuals who will receive your personally identifiable health information are health coaches, wellness navigators and data management professionals in order to provide you with services under the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program.
In addition, all medical information obtained through the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program will be maintained separate from your personnel records, information stored electronically will be encrypted, and no information you provide as part of the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program will be used in making any employment decision. Appropriate precautions will be taken to avoid any data breach, and in the event a data breach occurs involving information you provide in connection with the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, we will notify you immediately.
You may not be discriminated against in employment because of the medical information you provide as part of participating in the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Program, nor may you be subjected to retaliation if you choose not to participate.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this notice, or about protections against discrimination and retaliation, please contact the SOAR AHEAD Wellness Navigation team at 1-888-558-6825.