Seasonal Allergy Saga – Shield Up!

Spring is in full swing, and while the warmer temperatures give us the beautiful blooms and delightful vistas to view, it can paint our every day into allergy hell. Seasonal allergy symptoms can include coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes, fatigue, and sleep deprivation, and additional inflammatory responses. It can be hard to function at work or home while these allergies are … Read More

Is it Time for an Employee Benefits Consulting Tune Up?

Employee benefits packages are a tremendous component of public sector employer’s budgets, employee retention and recruiting efforts. An employer of 3,000 employees or more may need to budget upwards of 20 to 26 million annually towards employee health benefits. For our schools, this is an incredible amount of public funding and a crucial part of the overall budget spend. It … Read More

The Fight on Stress

Stress is unique. What creates stress in one person may not be the same for another. Why? How we experience stress is relative to each of our individual backgrounds and beliefs. Stress can be defined as, “physical, mental, or emotional tension resulting from factors that alter equilibrium within the body.”  Stress can also be defined as, “the perception of a … Read More

Why You Should Trust Valley Schools

The Valley Schools difference is our decades of experience. For more than 30 years, Valley Schools has been the Grand Canyon State’s foremost choice for people searching for a wide variety of services, including benefits consulting, wellness, and insurance options that are customized to meet your specific needs in specific areas, including health insurance, affordable health insurance, health care plans, … Read More

Here at Valley Schools & HPACT, we take springing into spring to heart!

February, March and April have been a whirlwind of activity for our Account Management and Wellness Teams. Take a look at some of the exciting ways we are supporting our members and their communities! Paradise Valley Unified Fun Run 5K Peoria Unified School District 5K City of Tolleson and Tolleson Elementary School District Whoopee Daze 5K Avondale School District Health … Read More

Myth: Eggs raise cholesterol and cause heart disease.

Truth: The cause of heart disease goes beyond cholesterol alone, and eggs do not increase heart disease based on conclusions of the most valid research studies available. If you weren’t already skeptical of the nutrition headlines before, reading that eggs might actually be bad for you may have put you over the edge. Your skepticism is valid and, although there … Read More

Rethinking the Importance and Value of Employee Wellness

Early spring is benefit decision time for public sector employers. Budgets, plan choices, integrated or non-integrated medical and pharmacy, disease management programs, employee assistance—all topics that need to be decided on behind the scenes before rolling out the final choices to employees for open enrollment. For many employers, there is a vital component missing, which is your wellness goals and … Read More

Open Enrollment Essentials

If you’re an employee of a school district in Arizona, open enrollment is close at hand! Your employer is making final benefit vendor selections and rate decisions right now, laying the critical groundwork to roll out benefits to employees for the 2019-2020 plan year.   Districts and government agencies designate a specific period for you to choose your benefits package … Read More

A Testimonial from Jan Cordova

  Here at Valley Schools, we are a beneficial resource for you as an employer for your school district or other governmental agency. But don’t just take it from us, hear from one of our members… “I have had the pleasure of working with Valley Schools for several years and appreciate that they are right there in the trenches with … Read More

Should You Consider Self-Funding?

If you are a public sector employer of 200 or more benefit-eligible employees, self-funding, or self-insuring your medical and pharmacy plan(s) is an essential option to consider. Let’s compare fully insured to self-insured plans: Fully Insured Self-Insured •       Insurance company dictates the cost of the monthly premium to the employer •       Employee/Employer pays a set monthly premium •       Insurance company … Read More