New Year, New Health Plan: 4 Ways to Maximize Your Benefits

The beginning of the new year is a great time to set yourself up for success with your health plan. Many people stop at plan selection and miss opportunities to make the most of their benefits, leading to gaps in care and unnecessary expenses.

Let’s walk through four key steps to help you prepare for your healthiest year yet.

Start the Year Off Right: Your Health Plan Action Steps

1. Choose Your Primary Care Provider (PCP)

Whether you changed plans or stayed with the same one, choosing (or confirming) your PCP ensures you have a trusted partner to coordinate your care and help you get the most from your benefits.

You can do this by: 

Using the provider search tool at calveba.org/Benefit-Contacts/.
Contacting The California Schools VEBA Advocacy Team at 888-276-0250 or through the online form at calveba.org/Contact.

Have the following information handy to make things easier: 

Name
Date of Birth or Social Security Number
Medical Group

Note: If you don’t select a PCP, one will be assigned to you automatically. You can change your PCP and medical group anytime during the year, but you cannot change your benefits plan until the next Open Enrollment period.

Bonus Tip: Transfer Your Medical Records

If you’re changing providers, request a medical records transfer early. This keeps your care consistent and avoids delays in treatment.

2. Schedule Your Preventative Care Appointments

Preventative care visits are important for early detection and your long-term wellness. During your visit, your doctor will recommend screenings and tests based on your age, gender, health status, and family history.

Read this blog post to learn more about preventative care and what health screenings you might be due for.

3. Review Your Benefits

Even if you’re familiar with your plan, it’s smart to revisit your Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) at the start of the year. It provides a clear overview of your coverage provided by a health plan. We put together a guide defining terms, sections, and information you’ll find in there. View the guide here. Knowing your plan’s coverage and benefits will help you get the most from your benefits and save you money.

4. Ask About Continuity of Care

If you’re switching plans and have ongoing health needs, ask your new plan about continuity of care. This ensures you can continue seeing your current provider for certain conditions, including:

Acute conditions like pneumonia
Serious chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes or heart disease)
Pregnancy
Terminal illness
Care for a child under age 3
Scheduled surgeries or procedures

Each condition has a different continuity period, so contact your insurance provider early in the year to avoid disruptions in care. This helps avoid treatment delays and ensures you receive consistent care during your transition.

Bonus Tip: Confirm or Update Your Contact Information

Make sure your health plan has your current address, phone number, and email address. Accurate information helps ensure claims process smoothly, and you receive important plan updates.

Take Charge of Your Health with Personalized Support and Resources

Once your benefits are selected, make the most of the resources available to you. Whether you need guidance or practical tools, CalVEBA offers support to help you thrive.

Whole Health Coaching: Partner with a coach to create a plan that fits your unique needs, helping you improve your fitness, nutrition, and overall well-being. Get started here.
Health and Wellness Toolkits: Access practical resources that offer strategies for managing stress, improving nutrition, and staying active. Explore toolkits here.

Making New Year’s Health and Fitness Goals Stick

From Sharp Health News, a publication of Sharp HealthCare

As a new year approaches, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. However, sometimes when setting health and wellness goals, we tend to be overambitious.

We set a goal to lift a certain amount of weight or lose a certain number of pounds, only to step into the gym once and never return. How can we prevent ourselves from burning out and losing track of our goals?

Try these tips:

Understand your “why.”
The key to setting goals is making sure they are SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. To find a goal that fits this criteria, it’s important to know your “why.” Identify your goal and then ask yourself why you’ve chosen that goal until you get to the root of your motivation — your “why.” Understanding why your goals matter can help keep you focused and make broad goals more specific and achievable.
Don’t just focus on numbers.
Designing your goals around specific numbers, such as your ideal weight, can be too rigid. This could cause you to get easily frustrated when the results do not show right away. Instead, center your goal on behavior changes that can help you become healthier in the long run.
Break it down.
Break down your goal into small, easy steps or mini goals. For example, if you’re aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day, start with 5,000 and work your way up from there.
Have an accountability partner.
Share your progress with a friend to help keep you motivated. This can also make working out a fun social activity, rather than something you feel like you have to do.

Sticking to goals is challenging for everyone. So it’s important not to feel discouraged if you fall behind. Above all, it’s vital not to beat yourself up if you get off track.

For more on this topic, check out:

New Year, New Achievable Goals

From Sharp Health News, a publication of Sharp HealthCare

As we start the new year, it’s important to remember that there is no short-term meaningful approach to healthy living. Rather, it is a concerted daily effort to make healthy choices.

Begin with making a schedule and setting realistic goals. Here are four tips to keep in mind when you are goal setting:

Set achievable weight-loss goals. If fat loss is your goal, consider reducing carbohydrate intake after 3 pm and don’t eat large meals immediately before bedtime. Also, consider adding more physical activity. Between these two changes, you’ll have created a meaningful caloric deficit that can help reduce fat.
Know that gaining strength takes time. Don’t expect to hit new “personal bests” each day at the gym. Instead, try lifting a certain weight through a full range of motion for a given number of repetitions. In a few weeks, the weight that started off challenging will now be a warmup.
Set specific healthy-eating goals. Eating healthier is essential to overall wellness. However, while “eating better” is a great goal, it’s too generic. Be specific with goals, such as “I will eat more whole foods.” Try to change one thing about one meal. Each week, continue to make similar small adjustments to other meals.
Feeling good is the real goal. Feeling good is an immediate and often overlooked fitness benefit. When we exercise and eat right, we feel good. After you’ve participated in the day’s activity, write down a note for yourself about how you feel and over time, watch how your mood and general disposition improve.

By setting small, achievable goals, you can live a healthier, more balanced lifestyle. But like all great things, progress takes time.

The VEBA Resource Center offers Beginner Strength Training with Weights Classes featuring low-impact movements and light cardio training to build muscle and burn fat safely. This class allows for gentle progression and modifications. Check out our calendar to sign up for an upcoming class.

Nuevo Año Nuevas Metas Alcanzables

Por parte de Sharp Health News, una publicación de Sharp HealthCare

Al comenzar el nuevo año, es importante recordar que no existe un enfoque significativo a corto plazo para una vida saludable. Más bien, es un esfuerzo diario acordado para tomar decisiones saludables.

Comience con hacer un horario y establecer metas realistas. Aquí le presentamos cuatro consejos que tomen en cuenta al establecer metas:

Establezca objetivos de pérdida de peso alcanzables. Si su objetivo es perder grasa, considere reducir la ingesta de carbohidratos después de las 3 p. m. y no coma comidas excesivas inmediatamente antes de acostarse. Además, considere agregar más actividad física. Entre estos dos cambios, habrá creado un déficit calórico significativo que puede ayudar a reducir la grasa.
Sepa que ganar fuerza lleva tiempo. No espere alcanzar nuevos “mejores récords personales” cada día en el gimnasio. En su lugar, intente levantar cierto peso a través de un rango completo de movimiento para un número determinado de repeticiones. En unas pocas semanas, el peso que comenzó como un desafío ahora será un calentamiento.
Establezca objetivos específicos de alimentación saludable. Comer más sano es esencial para el bienestar general. Sin embargo, si bien “comer mejor” es un gran objetivo, es demasiado genérico. Sea específico con las metas, como “Comeré más alimentos integrales”. Trate de cambiar una cosa sobre una comida. Cada semana, continúe haciendo pequeños ajustes similares a otras comidas.
Sentirse bien es el verdadero objetivo. Sentirse bien es un beneficio físico inmediato que a menudo se pasa por alto. Cuando hacemos ejercicio y comemos bien, nos sentimos bien. Después de haber participado en la actividad del día, escribe una nota sobre cómo se siente y con el tiempo, observe cómo mejora su estado de ánimo y disposición general.

Al establecer metas pequeñas y alcanzables, puede vivir un estilo de vida más saludable y equilibrado. Pero como todas las grandes cosas, el progreso lleva tiempo.

VEBA Resource Center ofrece clases Entrenamiento con Pesas para principiantes que incluye movimientos de bajo impacto y entrenamiento cardiovascular ligero para desarrollar músculo y quemar grasa de forma segura. Esta clase permite una progresión y modificaciones suaves. Consulte nuestro calendario para inscribirse a una clase.

New Year’s Resolutions: Crushing Goals or Goals Crushed?

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? While some may be #crushinggoals, others’ goals may just be crushed! Change is hard but it doesn’t have to be impossible. And, just because you slipped up over the weekend doesn’t mean you need to throw in the towel just yet. If you’ve found yourself wanting to toss your resolutions to the side, try instead to be a starter, not a quitter! Think about the following and see if you can reset and restart to crush your 2021 goals.

Why are you making the change?

It’s a simple question that’s incredibly weighted. Everyone has different reasons for their goals and that’s OK. The one thing you should avoid is doing it just to do it. If you are going to set goals for yourself, put forth effort to attain them. But, in doing so, you’ll want to remember your “why”. Try to understand why your goals will impact you, make a difference or help others. Having a purpose will help you push through days when you simply don’t feel like you are moving forward.

Rethink your strategy.

If you have already stopped working toward keeping your resolutions, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Put your plan together and be realistic. Consider what your normal days are like and then figure out how you can reach your goal every day. If it’s to exercise more, map out the days you plan on exercising and the types of exercise (i.e. M, W, F – Strength; T, Th, Sat – Cardio). If you are trying to save money or pay down debt, look at what you want to save/pay off and then break down how much you need to save/pay off every paycheck and set up a side account to auto-deduct that amount. If you are trying to eat healthier, start meal prepping on the weekends.

Consider the little things.

If you’ve had to readjust your strategy, remember to always consider the little things. The sum of the parts makes up the whole. So, focus on one or two goals to start. Then, make small adjustments — no need to go all in on the first day. Always be kind to yourself and make sure you track and celebrate your accomplishments — no matter how small!

Need some more inspiration? Check out the VEBA Resource Center blog or our YouTube channel for ideas on how to set and maintain your goals!

Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions with Positive Self Talk

A new year is the perfect time to reset and refocus, which is why most people make resolutions. From huge habit-changing undertakings to small adjustments to your daily routine, resolutions can be life-changing — if you stick to them. But, according to Business Insider, 80% of people break their resolutions by the first week of February. Sound familiar?

If you strive to be among the 20% that plans on keeping your promise to yourself, it’s important to be your biggest cheerleader. You and only you can make (or break) your resolutions in 2021. Stick to your new year’s resolutions by maintaining positive talk — the thoughts and words you use to describe yourself and your goals.

Swap Out Negative for Positive

First, let’s distinguish the difference between positive talk and negative talk:

Negative Talk:

I can’t…
I’m not able to…
I’m not good enough to…

Now, think about how you can swap out these negative phrases to create positive statements:

Positive Talk:

I will learn how to…
I will do my best to…
I can try to…

Start creating goal-oriented habits by cutting out negative talk and replacing with positive talk.

Eliminate Negative Words From Your Thoughts

When making resolutions, it’s a common practice to say something like, “I’m not going to XXX,” where the “XXX” is the habit you want to break. But, did you know that by just saying those words, even though you say you are NOT going to do it, it still triggers your brain to associate your habits with the actual thing you want to stop doing?

Instead of using negative words — not, no, never — turn your resolutions or new habits into positive “I Will” statements:

Negative Talk:

I am not going to eat after 9 p.m.
I am never going to skip a workout.
I am not going to spend so much money on….

Positive Talk:

I will eat my last meal at 8 p.m.
I will workout 3 times a week.
I am going to create a realistic budget to help track my finances.

By making these small adjustments, you are subconsciously telling yourself what you will do versus depriving yourself of what you no longer want to do.

Go Easy on Yourself

Change is not easy. You are going to have good days and bad days, and that’s OK. Be realistic with your resolutions and know that change doesn’t normally happen overnight — it typically takes three weeks to form a new habit.

It’s important to give yourself grace and to be flexible while forming new habits. Avoid an all-or-nothing approach and instead focus on what you have done to make strides. Write these accomplishments down so you can revisit them if you need some motivation. Remind yourself that you are doing the best you can. If you slip up, reset as soon as you can and get back on track. Don’t be a quitter, be a starter!

Think about this statement from Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” It’s up to you. You set your resolutions. You want to make the change. You have committed yourself. Now, you just need to tell yourself that you can.

Take Stock of 2020 To Get Set for 2021

Another year, one unlike any other, is coming to an end. Nobody could have predicted the type of year COVID-19 created, nor could anyone have prepped for it. However, it’s always a great practice to reflect on your accomplishments of the year, no matter how big or small, and then set your eyes on the coming year by setting goals. Before you say good riddance to 2020, sit down and take stock of all you were able to do, and then get set for 2021:

Write down your accomplishments. Think back to the beginning of the year and go through every month. Tap into your work or personal calendar if you need to and write down everything you achieved — big and small. Anything goes! Maybe you learned a new skill due to the remote working environment. Or, maybe you reconnected with an old friend. Did you have a breakout year at work? Help a student through a difficult time? If it made you proud, happy or feel accomplished, consider it a star on your chart and write it down!

Reflect on your wins. After you have written down all of your wins for the year, reflect on the mindset you had during that time. Were you motivated by something or someone? Did you change your routine or create a new habit? Or maybe you learned a new skill that contributed to your success. Jot these notes down next to your accomplishments to remind yourself how you accomplished those particular wins.

Tweak, tinker and try. If your list of accomplishments feels short, please don’t feel disappointed. Just getting through this year was huge! However, if you are looking to make an improvement for next year, consider what you could have done differently, write it down and then think about how you can apply that change in 2021. It could be as simple as getting up 30 minutes earlier to go for a walk. Or maybe it’s turning off electronics by 6 pm so you can spend more time with your family. There’s always room for improvement — now is the time to make a change.

Set goals for 2021. Now that you’ve seen what you accomplished in 2020, reflected on your mindset and motivation and have identified ways in which you could do things differently to achieve more, think about what you want to do in 2021. Use this year’s accomplishments as building blocks or stepping stones to create your next set of wins. Consider all areas of your life — personal, professional, family, spiritual. You can start small and build upon them as the year goes on. If you write down your goals in vivid detail, you are 1.2-1.4 times more likely to reach them. So, set yourself up for success in 2021 starting now!

Whether you have a short list or a long list, one win we can all add is surviving 2020. Take some time to reflect on this year’s journey and then reset for 2021. Need a little help setting your 2021 goals? Watch “CORE Habits” and see how you can improve upon your daily living to achieve your goals.