Health Enhancement Program: Comply Early and Breathe More Easily
May is one of the best times to schedule outstanding appointments required for the Health Enhancement Program (HEP) – still early in the year, and ahead of summer vacations.
Check the HEP portal now – at www.cthep.com – to find out whether you have an outstanding medical, dental, or other, requirement(s) to complete by Dec. 31, 2015. Those with chronic condition(s) can also complete requirements online.
May is also Asthma Awareness Month, an important time to consider ways to treat one of the most common lifelong chronic diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 25.5 million Americans are living with asthma, a disease that affects the lungs, causing repeated episodes of wheezing breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing.
Here are information and tips from the CDC that may help in better understanding and controlling asthma:
- Although asthma cannot be cured, it’s possible to manage asthma successfully to reduce and prevent asthma attacks, also called episodes.
- Successful asthma management includes knowing the warning signs of an attack, avoiding things that may trigger an attack, and following the advice of your health care provider.
- When you control your asthma, you will breathe easier, be as active as you would like, sleep well, stay out of the hospital, and be free from coughing and wheezing.
- Asthma affects people of all ages and backgrounds.
- In most cases, the cause of asthma is unknown and there is no cure.
- Certain factors may make it more likely for one person to have asthma than another. If someone in your family has asthma, for example, you are more likely to have it.
- Regular physical exams that include checking your lung function and checking for allergies can help your health care provider make the right diagnosis.
- Use your asthma medicine as prescribed and be aware of common triggers in the environment known to bring on asthma symptoms, including smoke (including second-hand and third-hand cigarette smoke), household pets, dust mites, and pollen. Limit or avoid exposure to triggers whenever possible.
If you or a dependent participating in HEP is managing asthma or another HEP chronic condition, we encourage you to visit the HEP portal – at www.cthep.com – as soon as possible to obtain resources about asthma and other conditions and to complete any requirement(s) that may be outstanding.
For further assistance, contact Care Management Solutions toll free at (877) 687-1448. HEP representatives will be available Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact: Susan Matthews at susan.matthews@uconn.edu