Subject Matter Minute Blog – Page 5 – Covering Important Topics About State of Wyoming Employment

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #34 – Air Ambulance Coverage

The below post is taken from the Video Blog, the Subject Matter Minute. If it’s a little hard to read, it’s because it’s taken from the spoken word. You can view the episode on YouTube if you would like. Find it here: Episode #34 -Air Ambulance Coverage.

If YouTube is blocked for you or your agency, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to view it from Google Drive. (I would prefer you view on YouTube, so I know how many people have watched)

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello All! So, last month’s SMM was on COBRA. I think the general consensus from the feedback I got, was that all of us will have to work until we are Medicare eligible. Sad, but true.

Thanks for watching that episode and thanks for joining me today! If you didn’t watch that episode, or you’ve missed some others, I went ahead and posted a link to the SMM playlist in the show notes below the video. If you haven’t checked out the show notes before, I want to mention that you almost always have to click the “show more” button to actually see what’s in there. For some reason, YouTube gives very little space for it.

Alright. Today we are going to talk about the cost and/or our coverage of Air Ambulance service.

So, I started thinking about this, unfortunately, because a friend of ours was involved in a car accident that sent someone in a helicopter to Denver. We spoke with them and naturally began talking about car insurance and health insurance. Totally unrelated to this episode, but your car insurance is unlikely to cover much in a multiple injury and/or death type scenario. You might check out what your car insurance covers.

Anyway, we also spoke about the helicopter ride. Now interestingly, this is a bit timely, because both the legislature and the governor have also been talking about it. They are trying to create a new system to avoid the occasional huge charge that some have received after a medical flight.

Oh, by the way, when we talk about Air Ambulance, we are talking about both helicopters and airplanes. You can get a helicopter ride from the scene of an accident and either a plane or helicopter from the hospital to another hospital.

The price for this sort of service is all over the place. However, after speaking with Franz Fuchs of the Wyoming Department of Health, I have some numbers that are more pertinent for the State of Wyoming employee.

First of all, the claims for this sort of thing that EGI has dealt with average around 100 trips a year. They tend to be half plane and half helicopter with only about 10% of the flights being on the side of the road 9-1-1 calls. 90% are interfacility which can be by plane or helicopter. While either situation means you have been badly hurt, the flight from the scene type probably means you are worse off. Luckily, with only 10% being that type, there are only approximately 10 roadside flights a year. And this includes all the people that EGI covers.

The average that EGI paid for this sort of transfer (and this includes all the transfers… the 100 on average per year) was $33K in 2015 and went up to $36K by 2018. So EGI is getting a big bill.

Now, the average amount that a covered person paid… I keep saying “covered person” because EGI covers more than just State employees, there are some school districts and such…. Anyway, the average amount was just $250-$300. Franz pointed out that this number doesn’t really mean anything, however, as 70%-90% of folks paid close to $0. These were likely folks that had reached their maximum or covered their deductibles, ya know, different situations.
The actual maximum a person paid (that is covered by our insurance) in 2015 – 2017 was $3K, but there was one person in 2018 that was charged $10K. Honestly, we don’t actually know how much they ended up paying because the claims data doesn’t tell us. You can often negotiate that kind of stuff down.

So… after hearing this, it seems that state employees aren’t really the ones that the governor and the Legislature are talking about when they say that people are getting hit with huge bills. The bottom line is our insurance covers this sort of thing at least to 75%.

I’ve been asked to mention that Insurance companies have some coverage requirements for them to pay an air ambulance service, perhaps the most important of these is the one that says, “the service is medically reasonable and necessary.” So, in a situation, does the patient’s medical condition demand rapid and immediate air ambulance services? A broken leg probably does not warrant an air ambulance while bleeding inside the skull that warrants the medical intervention of a neurosurgeon might. Unfortunately, the patient rarely, if ever, has a choice or enough knowledge to make the call in this matter, so hopefully, the medical professionals are making the right decisions at the time. In this situation, it’s Cigna that makes this call after the fact… not EGI.

Now if you are in an accident that requires this sort of thing, you are obviously going to be dealing with a whole lot more than just a helicopter flight, but it is good to know that at least this piece is covered and won’t break the bank.

Also, if you do end up with a balance bill, I’ve been told that you should definitely do some haggling with the air ambulance company. They are often willing to accept a lot less than the bill if they can get it quickly or easily. I know that this seems weird, but it’s true.

I want to thank this month’s subject matter expert, Franz, of the Wyoming Department of Health for getting me the stats that have helped put our minds at ease. Thanks, Franz.

That’s it for today, check-in next month for another exciting episode of the Subject Matter Minute! See ya then!

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #33 – COBRA

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello ya’ll! Thanks for joining me for another fabulous episode of the subject matter minute. I really do appreciate how many of you guys actually watch the show. It amazes me every month. So, thanks a ton! I also appreciate getting feedback and answers to my questions! I asked for input on my future Alaska cruise and I got a bunch. Really useful stuff. From small things that you wouldn’t think of… like putting some sort of decoration on your cabin door (so you can find it), to bigger decisions… like not booking excursions through the cruise line… possibly fetching you a much better deal onshore and a less crowded adventure. Thanks for all the advice, and now I’m really looking forward to the trip!

Alright, so today let’s talk about something we’ve all heard about, (we’ve seen the word) but most of us really don’t know what it means. Today let’s talk about COBRA. (music)

COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. A mouthful, eh?

Before I get started, I would like to thank this month’s subject matter expert, Kathy Simpson of EGI. This topic is considerably more confusing than I thought it would be, and Kathy patiently took my barrage of questions and guided me to COBRA enlightenment. Thanks Kathy.

Ok, so the basic idea behind COBRA is to allow workers and their dependents to maintain their health coverage after an event such as job loss, divorce, or death.

Before I get into the details of eligibility and such, let’s talk about the elephant in the room with COBRA. First of all, Health insurance is crazy. And by crazy, I mean crazy expensive. We have it so good at the state. The bottom line with COBRA is that the state no longer kicks in anything. You have to cover the total cost. Not sure if you guys have ever paid attention to that number, but it’s big. So, let’s look at how much COBRA costs. Here’s a fancy little graph. I currently have family coverage with a $500 deductible. That means that the total cost is $2422… but the state kicks in $2121, which means I pay basically $300/month. If I were to go on COBRA, I would be paying the whole thing at $2470/month. That total is what I would have paid without a match, plus a 2% administration fee. Now that would be a shock to the system. Same with a $900 deductible. Not much difference there. So… my point here is that it’s expensive.

COBRA fees

However, since I’ve been warm and cozy in my little state employment cocoon, I don’t have any idea what private health insurance costs these days. It may cost the same for all I know. But you obviously would have to compare.

There is an exception here, and that is if you get Riffed. You can see that the state still kicks in a large portion in that scenario.

Ok, let’s get back to the details of COBRA.

First of all, as a COBRA Participant, you can only select a plan with the same or lower cost than the plan you had as an active employee or under active coverage. You may not select coverage (e.g. vision) that you did not have as an active participant. You only need to enroll in the benefits you need. For instance, if you only need dental, and you had it before, you can elect only dental. However, you do not have to elect dental if enrolling in a health plan with COBRA.

COBRA applies to most employers with 20 or more employees, with a few notable exceptions such as health plans sponsored by the federal government, and church-based employers. But COBRA does apply to the state.

In order to be eligible for COBRA, you must meet 3 requirements:

The plan must be covered by COBRA.
A qualifying event must take place — this includes a job loss (other than for gross misconduct), reduction of working hours, divorce or legal separation, death of the worker, or a worker’s child losing their dependent status under the plan.
The individual must be a qualifying beneficiary, which basically means that they were covered by the employer’s plan the day before the qualifying event took place.

So, you can’t have COBRA forever. It’s time limited. The maximum coverage period depends on the type of qualifying event and certain special circumstances. If the qualifying event is the termination of the employee (other than for gross misconduct) or a reduction in hours, the maximum coverage period is 18 months. There are a few exceptions to this, dealing with medicare, disability and such… However, after going back and forth with Kathy, I’ve come to the realization that it can be a bit confusing… so I’ve decided to take the easy way out. Please take your confusing scenario to EGI and let them explain the details. I mean, you need to talk to them anyways…

Ok, so the bottom line, as I said before, is that for termination or reduction of hours… aside from the few exceptions, you are allowed 18 months of COBRA. For all other qualifying events, the maximum coverage period is up to 36 months. These qualifying events include:

Employee enrollment in Medicare (spouse and dependents get 36 months COBRA)
Divorce or legal separation (spouse and dependents get 36 months COBRA)
Death of the employee (spouse and dependents get 36 months COBRA)
And Loss of “dependent child” status under the plan. (when a kid turns 26 they can get 36 months of COBRA

There are some reasons that a plan administrator could terminate COBRA coverage before the time period is up. The main reasons are:

Failure to pay premiums due
The employer ceases to offer a group health plan
The COBRA beneficiary becomes entitled to Medicare

Ok… some timelines here… Within 14 days of EGI becoming aware of your qualifying event, you’ll be sent an election notice. Since the State must notify EGI within 30 days of most qualifying events, within a month and a half of losing your job or some other qualifying event taking place, you should receive a detailed COBRA Packet to help you decide if you are going to continue your health coverage through COBRA. This packet has the enrollment form and all information related to COBRA.

Under federal law, you have 60 days after the date of the notice or the last day of coverage, whichever is later, to decide whether you want to elect COBRA. You do not have to send any payment with the Election Form; however coverage will not be activated until full payment is received. Payment in full is due within 45 days of your election. There cannot be a lapse in coverage.

And, it’s important to mention that every person covered under your group health benefits can make their own election to sign up.

Finally, cancellation of COBRA must be received in writing to EGI, and once COBRA is canceled there is no opportunity for reinstatement.

Continuing your health coverage through COBRA can be rather expensive, so it may be worth looking into these other options first:

Buying coverage through the marketplace at www.healthcare.gov
Checking your eligibility for Medicaid
Obtaining coverage through your spouse’s employer (a qualifying event for COBRA also entitles you to a special enrollment period for other group health plans)

Ok!! I hope I didn’t just make this more confusing for everyone! I mean, you are going to have to talk to EGI anyways, because this is an important decision, right? The bottom line is that COBRA is a short term coverage option for employees and dependents when the employee has one of the previously mentioned “qualifying events” occur to them.

That’s it for today, thanks for joining me on the Subject Matter Minute. I’ll see ya next time.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #32 – Saba TalentSpace Mobile App

If YouTube is blocked for you or your agency, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to view it from Google Drive. (I would prefer you view in YouTube, so I know how many people have watched)

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello Fellow State of Wyoming employees… Matt here. Thanks for joining me here on the wild ride that is the Subject Matter Minute.

Before I get started on the subject matter meat, so to speak, I’m guessing that there may be a few of you out there that have gone on an Alaskan cruise? I’m asking because my parents just surprised us with a trip of our own this coming summer. My grandfather, who was about 2 months shy of his 101st birthday, passed this last summer, and apparently still had a little cash left. Well, my mom wanted to use it for a family vacation. So, my parents are going to take me, my wife, my kids and my sister on an alaskan cruise. This is definitely something that was on my bucket list, and I’ve never been on any sort of cruise, so I’m very excited. If you have been on one and have some pointers for us, please feel free to post them in the comments below the video. Or throw me an email… whatever.

Alright… today is a little show and tell episode. Today I’m going to show you how to use the Saba TalentSpace mobile app. (music)

Before I get started, I want to thank Debbie Russi again for helping me sort out the info for the last episode. That was on Maternity leave if you missed it. Remember fellas, that episode isn’t just for the ladies. Go back and check it out.

This episode’s subject matter expert is Brenda Kelly-Mitchell, who administers the PMI system and recently activated the mobile app. Thanks for doing that, and thanks for helping me out Brenda.

I think more and more people out there are starting to use the features of Saba that make it worthwhile. If not, maybe it’s because you don’t want to take the time to sit at the computer, or maybe you simply forget by the time you get to your computer? Well, the app is perfect for those problems. This is “on-demand” documentation. Memories are so much better at the point of incident, right? Being able to take a journal note, or throw out some feedback while in the field, or at the meeting, is much more reliable than doing it a month later.

The app is slick and easy to use. And I’m going to show you what is available on it. Let’s get going.

In order to start the process and get the app functioning, you need an activation code. To do that go to the Saba talent space website, go over to your name on the far right click on it, go to app activation, and then halogen app. I’m fairly certain in the future that will say talentspace app, but for now it still says halogen.

Sometimes it just brings up this feedback page, other times it will bring up the activation code. But if you only get this page and do not see a code, go ahead and do it again. And there you have your activation code.

So once you’ve gone to the website and got the code, you go to your mobile device, download saba talentspace mobile app, and then open it. This is where you add your activation code. Go ahead and put in the site name, which was wyoming, and then the activation code, and then activate.

Now you’re in the saba talentspace mobile app. This is the front page. They like to give you little tips and tricks here on the front… you can dismiss that. You can see down at the bottom there’s a menu where you have home, feedback, talent view, one-to-one meeting, and learning. First of all, from the very front page you can add feedback to somebody. Up by your picture… you see “hi Matthew L, do you have feedback to share” click on that and you can immediately send feedback to somebody. So you choose great job or whichever one. You find someone… you just search for them… you start typing their name, and it’ll give you the options. I’m gonna go ahead and cancel out of that and discard it.

Hold up! Let’s go back a second. I recorded this and then realized there’s a very cool feature within the mobile app that you cannot do on your desktop. You can attach photos! So when you’re in feedback, you see the little photo or a camera icon… click on that and you can insert a photo or take a photo. So if you are giving feedback on something at the time that is right in front of your face, you can take a photo. Or if you previously had a photo you can go insert photo. Go into your photos on your camera… yeah better not, my wife had some pictures of her being very sick… Or take a photo. Allow it to use your camera, and look that’s me recording my phone.

So that is a very very useful feature for feedback on the mobile app. That’s the quickest way to send feedback to somebody.

Another way is you can see on the home page the “my team” at the bottom. You can scroll through your people, and then either click on their face or click on the little three bars below their face and that’ll bring up icons. You can see the feedback icon is the second from the left if you want to send feedback to that person, or if you click on their face it brings up their face in a larger format and gives you some icons as well. You can send email to them, you can send feedback, and unfortunately you can’t call through the system right now. The telephone icon is grayed out. But that’s another way you can send feedback to your people right away.

You can also click in the upper right hand corner where you see the plus feedback icon. Same deal… you click on that, click send feedback, and you go through the process. So this is really really handy for sending feedback to folks.

You can also look at your feedback that you have received or sent by clicking on the feedback icon in the lower menu. These are the received, and then sent, and then you can also look at ones that you have requested, if you ever requested any.

Okay let’s go back to the home screen. We’ve looked at the feedback on the lower screen, let’s look at Talent view next. Talent view basically shows your crew, shows who you work with. Same deal… you can see the hierarchy… if there was a larger hierarchy there would be several layer layers. You can do what I showed you before… you could either click on the little icon and choose email or feedback, or look at their profile, or you can click on their face… same deal… send some feedback, send an email.

So that’s talent view. Next let’s look at one-to-one meeting. So in one-to-one meeting basically it shows the agenda that you’re setting up. These are the agenda items that are automatically put into your one-to-one meeting… any feedback goes in there automatically. You can add an agenda item by clicking on the plus icon to the right of agenda. You can type in the title, describe the agenda item, and add it to your agenda. I’m going to discard that because I’m not making one right now. So that’s a nice way to keep things up to date for your next one-to-one meeting.

If you were to be enrolled in a learning activities on the main site you could see them here under learning.

So that’s a rundown of all the features of the Saba talent space mobile app. If you have any questions you can always click on the menu in the upper left hand corner, click on help, and that will take you to the talent space mobile app help page online. You can look through any of these things. If you need to go back, in the upper left hand corner you click back on the Saba talent space arrow and you’re back in the app.

The mobile app is a fabulous way to send feedback, real-time feedback in the field, or in the meeting or wherever you’re at at the time so you don’t forget what you need to send.

Ok… so that’s the Saba TalentSpace mobile app. I know that 99 percent of you have your phone with you at all times, so this is probably the easiest, and best, way to interact with our performance management system. As an employee or a supervisor, it makes sense to use the system to its fullest and to have an influence over your performance reviews.

That’s it for today! Remember, if you’ve been on an Alaskan cruise and have any tips or tricks or anything we absolutely must do, please let me know! See ya next time.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #31 – Maternity Leave?

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to another episode of that work show that you keep hoping will get better, but, well…. Doesn’t. Hehehe…

I want to start off by thanking the folks at the Treasurer’s office. The last episode was about “unclaimed property” and we sent a bunch of folks onto their system, and everything went smoothly! I received several emails from happy people who discovered that they had unclaimed property of their own! I think the record was $566! Can you believe it? What a payday! We also heard from a person who had one penny. I don’t think they felt the need to go through the process.I was so happy to receive emails from folks about scoring some free money. And I’m sorry if you didn’t 🙁

Oh, and on that… I’ve been told that it makes sense to check back occasionally. The Treasurer’s office is actively searching for your money, so you may be surprised down the road.

Alright… So this episode is for all you new parents and parents to be! But before I dive in, I need to thank my subject matter expert, Debbie Russi of A&I Agency HR. I peppered her with a whole bunch of questions and she nailed them all. Thanks Deb.

Today we are going to cover Maternity Leave. (music)

Or, more precisely, the fact that we have NO maternity leave at the state. But, instead of dwelling on that, I’m going to cover what you can do to spend some quality time with your tiny little ball of rapidly dividing cells.

(We are also talking about Paternity Leave. The laws are the same for both mom and dad)

So, with the state of wyoming, it boils down to using FMLA for this situation. The Family Medical Leave Act is a federal law that allows you to take time off for certain things without the danger of losing your job.

I’m not going to cover all the details of FMLA in this video. I just want to cover it as it relates to time off for a baby.

So first of all, you need to be eligible for FMLA. This means you need to have been employed for at least 12 months. And…. you must have worked 1250 hours in the preceding 12 month period.

Next, you need to let your supervisor and/or your HR person know. The rule is 30 days advance notice is the leave is foreseeable, which would typically be the case with a new baby or, otherwise, as soon as practicable.

Then there are some details that will be worked out with you, HR, your doctor and your supervisor. Naturally there is a bunch of paperwork that needs to be filled out. The forms will be similar, but probably slightly different depending on what agency you work for.

So, what does FMLA do. FMLA allows you to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a new baby, adoption, or foster care of a child. Yes, unpaid. However, with the state you are able to use your annual and sick leave during that 12 weeks. Concurrently, as they like to say. This allows you to get paid… if you have enough banked.

Now if you’ve been looking into this, you may have heard about intermittent leave. This is a situation where you take chunks of leave spread out over time. Well…. This is not automatically allowed for the birth of a child or adoption. However, if you have a job that could allow it, and a supervisor that is willing to work with you, you may be able to do it. Just understand that it is not available except by agreement.

So, what if you want to take more than 12 weeks? It is possible to take time off without pay, but that would have to be worked out with your director. You would also need to understand that if you fall below a certain amount of work hours per month, you will lose the state’s contribution to insurance. So…. please talk to your HR person about that.

Here’s a little something that seems wrong, but is what it is…. If you and your spouse both work for the state, you have to split the FMLA 12 weeks. It would be awesome for the kid if you could each take 12, but the rules are what they are at this time.

(This is a Department of Labor rule. Not a State rule)

So, even though we don’t have maternity leave, per se, it could be worse. Apparently the state doesn’t have to allow us to use our vacation and sick concurrently with the FMLA leave. It could be pretty brutal to have to take leave without pay at a time when there are typically a bunch of bills that you don’t normally have to pay.

So, that should help you out in figuring out how to stay home with your new kid. Again, I left out some details, so please talk to your HR person so they can fill in the blanks and show you how to fill out all the paperwork.

That’s it for today, please join me again next month for another episode of the Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #30 – Unclaimed Property

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello everybody! Welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute, I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for joining me!

If you have been watching the last couple episodes, you’ve seen me, rather pathetically, pleading for a couple fans of the show to contact me. Well, I can now claim success. Unfortunately, these two fabulous people both left state employment, so they didn’t know I was searching for them. Well, here they are… Angela and Brittany. Thanks to both of you for being fans, and I’m sorry you won’t be watching anymore!

This episode is not really about any state benefits or processes. Although it kind of is…. Well, the state Treasurer’s office is in charge of it, so the state is a part of it. But, this can benefit anyone, anywhere. Today I’m going to show you how you can possibly get yourself some cash from Unclaimed Property. (music)

You may have heard about this in the past. And if you are like me, you started to try to get your money, but the system was confusing and just not worth it. I remember giving up. Well, not anymore. It’s simple and quick now. I got a check for $380! A close friend of mine got $200. I’m not saying you all have this kind of “unclaimed property,” but it’s time to check! I’m guessing that some of you will be “finding” your money as you are watching this video.

So what’s this all about? Well, it seems that sometimes companies can’t find us. Or don’t try very hard to find us. It seems I had some rebates from purchased printers, refunds from magazines, and some small investments in a company from way back. It can be any number of things. So, if the company can’t find you, they send the money to unclaimed property. And it sits there until you do the search.

You can go to the Wyoming Treasurer’s webpage, and go to Unclaimed Property, or you can go directly to the search page with this address: https://wyoming.findyourunclaimedproperty.com

If you go to the unclaimed property page on the Treasurer’s site, there is a “how-to” video that shows you exactly what I’m going to show you, but they can take it to the end of the process. I can’t quite finish it because I already claimed my money!

Ok… this is how you find your cash. (Demo)

Here we are on the treasures website. There’s our Treasurer… You can see right here big giant button that says unclaimed property. We’ll go ahead and click on that… it takes you to this page that has that video that I mentioned. Feel free to watch that as well. It takes you all the way to the end.

So you simply click on “search unclaimed property,” and here’s the search page. Go ahead and put your last name in here. I think it’s best to just put your last name in here because it gives you the broadest search.

So go ahead and click “search,” and you’ll see all these Nagy’s. I’m not sure why it says “no exact matches” because actually there’s a lot of Nagy’s… David Nagy, Thyrion Nagy, and interestingly enough, I believe this is my father, Robert Eugene Nagy down there.

I’ll claim his, just for demonstration purposes. You just click “claim,” and if you have multiple ones, just click claim next to each of the ones that are for you. I had several. Then you can go either down here or right here and hover, and then click “review claimed properties.”

So here’s the property. Here’s some instructions you need to read because you have to select an option here. Generally you’ll be the owner so I’m going to go ahead and put that down. Then click file claim. Then you’ll need to fill out this information.

Choose individual or business, and fill out this stuff. Once you get that all filled in click Next. It’ll suggest an address perhaps. Click Next there, and then you’re at the electronic signature page. You’ll check this, you’ll put your first and last name here, just like it says. Once it’s all good to go, all this information is correct, you’ll click Submit and your unclaimed property claim will be submitted. You’ll get an email rather quickly.

Sometimes they may need some more information other times they don’t. It just depends on the amount of the money, where it’s coming from, the information you’ve given them, that sort of thing. You can see here the email that I received when I went through this, and it’s asking for some additional documentation. You can find that in this PDF. You can see that they’re asking for photocopies of current driver’s licenses for all listed owners and a signed form. Since my wife and I were both on one of them, we needed both of our driver’s licenses… but really not a big deal… it was a pretty easy process to get $381.

Alright! If you didn’t actually go through the process while you were watching the video, please do it now. I truly hope we can drain a bit of that “unclaimed property” value out of the Treasurer’s coffers!

That’s it for today! Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Subject Matter Minute… see ya next month!

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #29 – PMI Midyear Coaching Phase

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the subject matter minute! Thanks for joining me.

So, last episode I sent out a plea to a couple state employees whom I thought were pretty big fans of the show, but I’ve heard nothing! You ladies are breaking my heart. If I ran into you at the Norah Jones concert, please contact me via email, as I would really (still) like a copy of the photo we took.

I want to tell you guys a little about a trip my wife, a group of friends and I took just a couple weeks ago. First of all, it was the hardest thing Tanna, my wife, and I have ever done. Secondly, it was the most beautiful mountain range we have ever experienced. Eleven of us did a supported mountain bike ride from Telluride to Durango, in the San Juan mountains. It ends up being about 80 miles of riding, and at one point we peaked out at 12,600 foot elevation. Leading up to it, we were like… well, 20-25 miles a day doesn’t seem too bad. We have all day to do it. And we aren’t racing, so it should be cool. Well, those miles took a while. Every day was at least 6 hours of intense, technical riding. I’m not complaining… we felt so accomplished and satisfied each day as we sipped on our ice cold beer. That was the other thing… like I said, the trip was supported. So a guy we paid set up a kitchen and a groover and hauled all our coolers and camping gear to the next spot. We camped 3 nights and rode 4 days. We had perfect weather, the wildflowers were like nothing we have ever seen and for the next week at least, I was in the best shape of my life. That was one for the books.

Ok… now let’s get to something I know you are all pumped about… PMI. For you newbies, this means Performance Management Instrument. A few episodes ago I went over some of the technical stuff. The tools you can use to maximize the effectiveness of the system and possibly help your ratings. This time I want to be timely with the show and hit the current phase…

This episode is about the Midyear Coaching Phase. (music)

Before I get started on the midyear coaching phase, I want to thank this episode’s subject matter expert, Brenda Kelly-Mitchell. She is the master of all things PMI and works her butt off making the system work. Thanks Brenda for getting me the information.

As you should know, there are 3 phases to our PMI. This is the middle phase when managers and employees get together and talk about progress, problems, goals, expectations, and all that. This is a formal and documented get together. Now by formal, I don’t mean it can’t be relaxed, and honestly “informal.” It just means that this meeting is required.

While coaching itself is often perceived as the manager’s responsibility, it is a two-way street – and definitely a time to make sure that we, the employees, are informing our managers of successes, any obstacles that are keeping us from getting stuff done, or maybe resources needed that could overcome those obstacles. Let’s be honest, if your manager doesn’t know what is holding you back, they make assumptions. So this is a great time to let them know.

Naturally, you would be putting those things into the Talentspace software, right? Like I showed you 3 episodes ago? But…. that doesn’t guarantee that your supervisor is even paying attention. So… again… bring it up in the Mid-Year meeting.

Also, we all know that priorities shift from season to season, month to month, and often day to day – so, this is a great time to talk them over and recalibrate if needed.

Midyear is also a time that we reconnect on topics such as Career and Development – like learning new skills and gauging interest in new experiences. So, if you have been eyeing an online course, a conference, or even considering expanding your role in your agency, this is a good time to bring it up.

As a manager, take advantage of this phase to give praise where it is warranted. If goals are being met and everything is progressing as expected, be sure to bring that up!

And finally, this is also a time to try to redirect performance and/or behavior that isn’t inline with the goals and target ranges set up in the planning phase, or with the state in general. This is a nice way of saying that poor behavior should be addressed.

Let’s get into some formalities. Each phase has the “same” 6 steps that need to happen.

Evaluator Writes midyear comments on goals and core competencies
Second-level manager reviews and approves
HR Reviews and approves
Manager meets with employee (conducts the interview)
Employee reviews, comments, acknowledges receipt
Evaluator signs off

Ok! I’ve included links to some materials that can help with this process in the show notes below this video. Please check them out.

Trust me, I know it’s sometimes hard to make time for the PMI process. But…. it’s something we all have to do and we might as well do it well and do it right. Who knows, maybe 10 years down the road there will be some raises tied to it. 🙂

That’s it for this month’s SMM. Check in next month when I do an episode that could make you some money!

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #28 – Important Tidbits

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute, I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for tuning in! That’s a funny expression, right? Tuning in… Do you remember when you actually had to “tune in” tv stations? The little knob around the channel knob?? Wow… that was a long time ago. 🙂

But, I digress…

Today’s episode is about Nothing! (nothing in particular graphic)

Today is going to be a break from the usual topic driven show. I thought it was time to do a bit of a wrap up of what we have done on the show as well as cover some odds and ends related the mechanics of finding the appropriate episode when you need it and other details of youtube, the blog, and more.

Hope that’s ok. If you couldn’t care less, then git! I won’t be offended.

First of all, before we get started with that… I wanted to see if I could find a couple fans of the show that I briefly met at the Norah Jones concert in mid July. A couple really friendly ladies that said they really like the show and that they were excited to meet me. Made me blush a little. The concert was about to start, so I immediately forgot your names. Very sorry about that. But, you had a friend take a photo, and I would really like a copy if that is at all possible, so please send me one! My email address is right here: matthew.nagy@wyo.gov. Please send me a copy… if you haven’t deleted it already, that is. 🙂

Ok… as far as recapping what we have done with the show… I think the show has been a success. I think we have covered topics that are important to us all, generally without too many mistakes? I don’t really get any haters, and for that I thank you all. While I fancy myself as someone who can handle criticism, I’m not sure about the kind you often see on youtube. So, thanks for being such wonderfully nice folks.

This is a good time to show you how you can go back to see what we have covered. Perhaps the easiest way, short of having a bookmark directly to the playlist, is to simply search for “subject matter minute” within youtube. That will allow you to find the playlist easily.

This is what a playlist looks like. If you click on it, it will open the very first video. The one that started it all. This was on longevity pay, a benefit that I didn’t even know existed. One that I was benefitting from at that time already. Well, once you are here, you can scroll through all of the episodes over here.

It seems that the most popular episode to date is the Full Benefit Package episode. Episode 12. I’ve actually had folks from out of state that were considering state employment thank me for having that video.

One final thing on YouTube…. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to my channel by clicking the big red “subscribe” button. This will allow you to see new videos within your own channel, in the subscription area. If you have notifications turned on, it will also alert you that way. You do that by going into Manage from the Subscriptions area. Then click the little bell.

Ok, I’ve shown you the playlist, did you even know that there is both a written blog and an audio version? I know that I put those links in the emails that go out, but I’m sure a ton of people just click on the video without reading my lame attempts at humor. Right?

So, the blog is here: http://wyomingtraining.com/subject-matter-minute-blog/

You will find both all of the episodes in written form, and all of them in audio form. You can see the audio files along the right hand side.

Ok? So, if you have problems with YouTube, or your internet connection or you simply prefer to read, you can go here. I will put this link is in the show notes below the video. One final thing on the blog, if you or someone you know is blocked from YouTube, you can scroll to the bottom of each written blog and watch the video from Google drive.

We’ve had 28 episodes at this point… really 27, because one was a bloopers show, but that’s a lot of topics! Last month I covered a topic that one of you guys suggested, and I will be doing that next month too. I would love to hear from you about topics you think I should cover. All that I ask is that the topics are relevant to the entire state. Not just your agency.

Ok, I think that is enough odds and ends for today. Hopefully I didn’t put you to sleep? Well, that’s the beauty of content delivered this way… you can shut me up by shutting me off!

Oh! Before I go… you may have noticed the new digs? I dug myself out of the basement and I now have a much better view, as well as better lighting, a more stable temperature. I was always a bit cold in the basement. I hope this works for ya. I’m not a very creative decorator, so …. This will have to do.

Thanks for joining me on the Subject Matter Minute!

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #27 – Assigning Beneficiaries

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello, and welcome to yet again, another episode of your favorite video blog…… the subject matter minute. If you got here by accident, I’m sorry. 🙂

So, this video is coming out a little late. I just got back from Japan. Yeah, really! My sister is a Navy Nurse and has been stationed there for the usual 2 years. We decided we’d better take our one chance to see Japan while we still have a place to stay and an awesome tour guide. We had a great time! We ate a lot of fabulous food, did some touristy crafty things, stayed at a military “resort” for a couple days, and put in some good beach/ocean time. I even got to experience something new on the way home. We actually flew out of LA because it cost so much to go out of Denver, and on the way back stayed in Las Vegas. Well, we got to experience our first earthquake! It was weird, exciting and kinda fun. Luckily is was small there. Although it did make the lights sway and then afterwards gave us some vertigo.

Before I get started on this months subject, I want to thank last episode’s subject matter experts… Jared Hanson and Brenda Kelly of HRD. The subject was using the PMI software between phases, if you missed it. So go back and catch that episode. And, thanks Brenda and Jared!

The Subject matter experts for this episode are Polly Scott of the Wyoming Retirement System and Pam Unruh of Employees Group Insurance. I also want to thank Mitzi, one of our fabulous HR coordinators out in the state for the topic suggestion!

Today I want to talk about the importance of assigning a beneficiary.

There are potentially 4 things that state of wyoming employees must choose a beneficiary for… They are Life Insurance through Employees Group Insurance… and your pension, the 457 plan, and Prudential life insurance through the Wyoming Retirement System. These each need different beneficiary designations. They don’t have to be different people…. They just each need to be assigned separately.

You are automatically enrolled in your pension, and the 457 plan. The state pays for the life insurance that you can get through EGI, but you have to elect it. (so definitely do that… it’s free) And finally, the Prudential Life insurance through the WRS is also a voluntary program. So, you pay for it and don’t have to sign up for it.

So…. what happens if you don’t select a beneficiary for these things??

When electing life insurance or changing your beneficiary through EGI, you can use paper or the online portal. When using the portal, if you elect life insurance, the system will require that you add a beneficiary. If you use paper, it doesn’t…

So…If an employee that has elected life insurance through EGI does not elect a beneficiary or the designated beneficiary is also deceased, benefits will be paid first, to your spouse, then your children, then your parents, then your brothers and sisters, and finally your estate. If it’s going to more than one person… like you have 3 siblings, then the money will be distributed equally among them.

One thing you need to be aware of… if you name a minor as your beneficiary, benefits can’t be paid to them. A guardian would have to be court ordered and the benefit would be payable to the guardian.

Ok, so that seems pretty standard, right? Well, when you name your beneficiary, you put in their name…. Not relationship. So, if you put down your wife or husband and then you get divorced, the money will still go to them. I’m guessing that not a lot of divorced people want their $50,000 life insurance policy going to their ex. Just a guess. Might make a few people roll over in their graves! So keep that in mind!

The issue of people not selecting beneficiaries has grown since we went to online systems and also automatic enrollment. People’s pension accounts and 457 accounts are set up automatically, but they still need to log into their online account for each and add the beneficiary information.

Something to note on the pension, if you elect more than one primary beneficiary on your pension then the beneficiaries won’t have the choice of a lifetime monthly benefit and will have to take a lump sum refund. Consider this carefully, and you can always add contingent beneficiaries who take the place if the primary beneficiary is deceased. If you should die in-service without a beneficiary, benefits would be paid to the estate. There isn’t an order precedence for pension benefits. That is why it is so important to establish beneficiary(ies), because going to the estate could complicate matters, or make things work out differently than you had planned.

The 457 Plan does have an order of precedence, but it is still important to designate a beneficiary because there would be an additional waiting period if the order of precedence is used. So if you don’t have a beneficiary selected, the money would first go to your estate, then your spouse, then a child or children and finally to a parent.

Finally, the Prudential life insurance through WRS has an order of precedence that goes

surviving spouse
all surviving children
all surviving parents
all surviving siblings
estate

Ok, I’m going to quickly show you where and how to change your beneficiaries. 3 of them can be done online. It’s simple. Prudential Life Insurance can be changed by calling 800-525-8056 and requesting a form.

First, I’m going to show you how to add or change your beneficiary in the life insurance that we get through EGI. First of all, go to A&I’s website and come up here to divisions. Click on Human Resources or the arrow next to it, then click on group insurance.

Now you’ll be on EGI’s site. Here’s the benefit portal go ahead and click on that. If you’d like there’s a couple videos you can watch: “how to register” and “using the portal for open enrollment changes,” but here is the portal access down at the bottom.

That’ll open up a new window and you’ll have to log in. It gives you more choices typically, but because I logged in with with Google that’s what it’s giving me and that’s kind of a familiar login. It will give you an opportunity to pick your gmail account and then you’d be in. So, as you can see, I’m in. This is the page that shows up. Here is your life insurance beneficiary.

Very simple. You can see I have my wife as the primary and then I have my two kids as contingent; they would be 50% and 50% should it go to them. All you do is click on update beneficiaries, you can see everyone that’s listed.

Here you can edit or you can add. If you edit someone you go in you change the name, blah blah blah, save. I’m gonna cancel out. If you want to add go ahead and add one. You would put primary or contingent, relationship percentage, save it. I’m gonna cancel out of that. After you change something you need to click here, and then save. But I’m not gonna do any of that because I’m already good here.

That’s the employees group insurance life insurance beneficiary add or change.

Now I’m gonna show you how to add or change beneficiaries for your pension through the Wyoming Retirement System. First, go to members, and then online pension account, come down to change your beneficiary.

This opens up a new window. You’ll need to login, and it takes you right there. You can see right now I have a primary beneficiary as my wife. I have not added my kids… I think it’s mainly because I could not remember their social security numbers, but all you would do is update the information.

If I wanted to add them as contingent beneficiaries I would create new, add one daughter, and then I would create new and do another one.

But since I’m not adding them today, since I still don’t remember their social security numbers, I will just cancel out of that. Then you click continue when you’re done.

This time we’re going to change our beneficiaries in the 457 deferred comp account. In order to do this, come on over here to login click on that. Click on the 457 plan login. Login to it.

Click on account, and then right over here under account overview is beneficiaries, or down here beneficiaries.

You can go to add/edit down here, and as you can see my wife is my primary beneficiary and one of my daughter’s is a contingent beneficiary. If you wanted to add, you would just add. If you wanted to edit, you could edit.

I’m gonna cancel. If you add, you would choose the type, contingent or primary, and save it. I’m gonna cancel out of that.

That’s all there is to changing or adding your 457 beneficiary.

There might be a few of you out there that just really don’t give a rip where your money goes after you die. After all, your dead. But I’m guessing that most do care. Please get in the systems and add your beneficiaries if you haven’t, and then check them somewhat regularly to make sure they are still good. Especially if you have changes in your family.

Well, it’s not a lot of fun to talk about things that involve our deaths, but we are all gonna go. So get your ducks in a row. 🙂

That’s it for this month’s subject matter minute. Please join me next month for what “might” be a more uplifting topic. Actually, I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet… but we’ll see you then.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #26 – Utilizing the PMI Software Between Phases

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to the Subject Matter Minute. I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for joining me!

So a couple weeks ago my oldest daughter graduated from high school. We had a big party, a lot of family, and some tears. I, of course, was tasked with putting together the video of her growing up. Which means that I literally cried every time I watched it. Yes, I’m a sap. When you are editing, you need to watch it over and over to make sure it times out. So… ouch. There are some really good songs out there for this sort of video and you can’t help but cry. If you want to imagine my pain, listen to “Have it All” by Jason Mraz and “ready, set, don’t go” by Billy Ray Cyrus, and think about your daughter moving on.

Anyway… before I get started with this month’s subject, I want to thank last month’s subject matter expert, Alice Burron. Thanks a ton for getting me the information on your wellness initiatives!

This month’s subject matter expert is….. Well, really, me. As all of you supervisors know, I was heavily involved in the creation of the PMI training that you all had to work through. And, as you know, I pretty much had to know everything about the process. (do silly hand motions) I was also on camera a bit too much. I did some reading from a teleprompter. Sorry… that’s a bit of an inside joke. Apparently, I had a tendency to do some repetitive hand motions, and a friend, who is also a supervisor with the state, couldn’t help but give me a hard time about my hand motions. Thanks Seth!

Today we are going to talk about Utilizing the PMI software between phases.

Because the Planning Phase ended on May 31st, we all now have our goals and Target Ranges for competencies set. This means that you now have all this time before the next phase.. The midyear phase, where you talk about your progress and supervisors give some coaching and all that.

Well, while a lot of folks probably do just wait until that phase opens, it’s really not the most effective way to use the PMI system. This applies to both employees and supervisors and although, there is no right or wrong way to use the system, there are tools available that are designed to be used throughout the year. In between the phases.

As an employee, you can actually affect your evaluation if you stay up on what’s going on. Recording “milestones or jobs well done,” or documenting the difficulties you are having with a goal… If it’s something that’s out of your control, or something like that. Putting these sorts of things in the system, allows your supervisor to easily pull them into the evaluation form.

Ok, I’m going to talk about 3 tools specifically. They are 1 to 1 Meetings, Feedback Central and Goal Notes. I’m just going to introduce these items. They are pretty intuitive and mostly easy to use.

So, are you having regular meetings with your supervisor? Well, you probably should be. Keeping track of progress, bringing up issues… you know the drill. Well, 1 to 1 Meetings allows you to both keep track of what you talk about but it also allows both supervisors and employees to add “agenda items” to a future meeting. So, you think of something that you’ve been meaning to talk about and you quickly make an agenda item for it for the next meeting.

Feedback Central is a central repository for all sorts of documentation. If you go into “all feedback” you will see all the feedback both from you and to you. You can see that I put some journal notes in there. Which is basically a good place to put ideas and thoughts. I have some Great Jobs that were sent to me and I also have some thank yous both going out to others and coming in to me. Your choices are different depending on whether you are a supervisor or not, but both employees and supervisors have several choices within feedback central. As you can see, you can even request feedback.

As I mentioned before, we all now have our goals set in the system. Best practice is to regularly update how you are doing with these goals. You can do this within the goal itself. If you click on one of your goals, it takes you to an area with several things you can adjust and a comment area. So you can select if you are on track or not… you can select a status from the dropdown. You can show the percentage of completion. You can put when you actually started working on the goal and when you finished. And finally, you can put comments in the comments area. This is where you might mention any roadblocks you are experiencing or things you might need to finish up the goal. Anything related to the goal that might help your supervisor understand how it is going.

So, 1 to 1 Meetings, Feedback Central and Goal notes/comments. These are tools you can use to help have some control over your evaluation . You need to use them regularly and when something is actually happening. Don’t wait, as our memories fade quickly. I know mine do!!

Whether or not you like having your performance evaluated, it is necessary. You might as well try to use the PMI system to it’s full potential and use it in a way that will help you and your supervisor do an honest and fair evaluation.

Alright, I gotta go… that was a lot for today! Please come back next month for another exciting and fun filled subject matter minute. See ya then.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #25 – Cigna Wellness Initiatives

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute. I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for joining me! Before we get started with today’s topic that includes how you can possibly make some cashola, I want to thank last month’s subject matter expert, Casey Baxter of Surplus Property. Thanks for your help, Casey.

It’s a coincidence, but this episode happens to be on preventative care the day after I had a bit of preventative care done on myself. I had a mole removed yesterday. Good times…Ya know… everyone blames the sun for this sort of thing…. Personally, I blame the moles. It’s not the sun’s fault that I’m covered in moles. So anyways, it seemed like a good preventative measure to get this removed, and we will find out next week, if everything is cool. I’m not worried and the doctor didn’t seem too worried. So…. speaking of health care, and preventative health care….

We all hear it every day… our healthcare system is in shambles… it’s broken… right? Well, while the government fails to figure this out, some people, organizations, and even insurance companies, are trying to figure out ways to, at least, slow the rise in costs.

There is one proven way to lower costs, and it just happens to have the side effect of helping people as well. And in this case, you might even win some money. Today I’m going to talk about Cigna and their Wellness Initiatives.

So… if you’ve been watching the show for a while, you know that I did one on the free blood chem screening through Wyoming Health Fairs. If you need to check it out, that was episode #15, and I’ve linked to it in the show notes. The chem screening is a great deal and something everyone should be doing. Well there’s more that you can do for your health that is free.

Did you know that you can go to the doctor once a year for a free well visit? You can also get free coaching from Cigna professionals on all sorts of health related topics, such as losing weight, quitting tobacco, managing stress and even dealing with chronic diseases. I’m going to go deeper into that in another episode. Today I want to talk about their current wellness initiative. Having said that, keep in mind that they do have ongoing wellness initiatives. I’m going to talk about the current one, but if you are watching this video far in the future, keep your eyes open for the emails that go out about every other month.

I chatted with my friend Alice Burron of Cigna, and she gave me the lowdown on the current wellness initiative. There are 3 steps (and possibly several rewards!)

Get your free blood chem screening through Wyoming Health Fairs
Take the Cigna Health Assessment online
Go to your in-network Dr. and get a free well visit.

You should probably do these things just because, but Alice has been given the power to incentivize it.

If you go to an in-network Dr. to get your free 100% covered annual wellness visit by Nov. 30, you will get entered into a drawing for one of 100 $200 gift cards. And if you take the health assessment before July 31, you are eligible to win one of 100 $50 gift cards. And, they just wrapped up a Walkingspree challenge and 50 of those who participated and earned badges won $50. There will be one more of those challenges this year. There is no doubt that this is real. I won $50 last year. 🙂 Now that I think about it… telling you guys about this has probably reduced my chances of winning. Dang… oh well… it’s good for everyone, right? I mean exercise is good and so is cash. 🙂

A couple items I need to mention about the wellness Doctor visit. When you make the appointment you need to specify that it is for the 100% well visit / annual checkup. Also, if you had your well visit anytime in 2019 before Nov. 30, you are eligible for the drawing. That means starting 1/1 of this year, any well visit from that point on is counted. Some of you already had your visit without knowing about this incentive, but don’t worry, you will be automatically included. And speaking of that, there is no paperwork related to the incentive. It’s all captured electronically, so you don’t have to turn in a claim form for the Dr. visit, or anything for the health assessment, either.

This is easy stuff that you can do for free, that can possibly win you some money; that is the right thing to do for your health, and could even slow down the rise in health insurance costs.

So, get involved in the cigna wellness initiative. And when you do, be on the lookout for an email saying you are a winner from Cigna, Walkingspree, or Tango gift cards!

If you have any questions, you can call the Cigna Customer Service number at 800.685.1060. Or email Alice at Alice.Burron@cigna.com. You can also find that number and email address down below in the show notes. There is also some brochures and information in the show notes, so be sure to take a look.

Alright, that’s it for this month. I’ll see you next time on the Subject Matter Minute.