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First Lady’s February food drive back for encore
The second annual Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers food drive kicks off Feb. 1 and First Lady Cheri Daniels is asking for your participation.

Through Feb. 26, agencies throughout state government will coordinate efforts to collect non-perishable items for local food banks.

“We received an overwhelming response to last year’s call for donations,” said First Lady Cheri Daniels. “I have no doubt that state employees will continue to recognize the importance of helping our fellow Hoosiers in need.”

For the 2009 drive, state agencies joined together to collect more than 81,000 food items and raise $9,400 in monetary donations.

Suggested contributions include canned fruits, vegetables and meats as well as soup, rice and pasta. Collection bins provided by Gleaners Food Bank are located in the Indiana Government Center cafeterias and outside the Governor’s Office in the State House. Other state offices around the state have donation boxes located within their individual facilities.

The signature event for the Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers food drive is IndiCANa, a structure building competition with cans. The contest for state employees will be held Feb. 18, in the Indiana Government Center South atrium. First Lady Cheri Daniels will serve as judge for the competition.

Additional information, photos and a list of participating regional food banks will be updated at www.in.gov/gov/firstlady/2546.htm

Did you accept the Non-Tobacco Use Agreement during Open Enrollment? Are you remaining tobacco free? Please remember that by violating this agreement you are placing your job at risk. Employees who have accepted the Non-Tobacco Use Agreement have agreed to be subject to tobacco testing, and anyone who tests positive will be subject to dismissal from employment.

If you know that you will not be able to honor all the terms of the Non-Tobacco Use Agreement, you need to rescind your agreement prior to the use of any tobacco products. To rescind your agreement you will need to log into PeopleSoft and rescind.

To get to the “Rescind Non-Tobacco Use Agreement” page follow these steps once you’ve logged in:

1. Navigate to: Self Service-> Benefits-> Rescind Non-Tobacco Use Agreement.
2. Follow the prompts to submit your request to rescind the agreement.
3. Once you have submitted your request and, if your rescission is approved, your health care insurance premium will increase by $10 bi-weekly. Also any premiums from the pay periods in which you received the incentive will be collected.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the State Personnel Benefits Division at (317) 232-1167 or toll-free at 877-248-0007.

Here are a few easy action steps you can take to maximize your benefits and save more of your money in 2010. You can find additional information by visiting www.anthem.com.

1. Take advantage of wellness benefits. Wellness or prevention benefits such as mammograms, immunizations and annual checkups help you stay healthy. By making the most of these benefits, you can potentially prevent chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. You can find your wellness benefits by using the MyAnthem feature at www.anthem.com or by calling the customer service number on your ID card for personalized benefit information.
2. Manage well being with help from Anthem’s 360 Health programs. Take the online Health Risk Assessment (MyHealth Assessment). Once you complete the online assessment, we can identify health-related areas to help you improve.
3. Get health tips from www.myanthem.com or Anthem customer service. At www.anthem.com, there’s a lot of great information available to help you become more informed about your health care options, costs and ways to improve your health. Explore the Web site and learn more. Call the customer service number on the back of your ID card for more information.

Register today at anthem.com

• Go to www.anthem.com
• Select “member” at the top left corner of the page
• Choose your state from the drop down menu at the center of the page
• Select “enter”
• Click on “register now” under MyAnthem at the top left corner of the page
• Answer brief set of questions

Now you have access to a wealth of health tools and information.