With benefits open enrollment in full swing, some endowed employees are taking a second look at their health plan choices. The plan grabbing the most attention is the Cornell Program for Healthy Living (CPHL), first offered last year.

"I'm getting quite a few phone calls from people interested in switching to this plan and wanting to know how its wellness benefits work," said Danielle Waight, resource specialist for Benefit Services.

And with a year of history behind it, the plan is starting to accumulate success stories.

One of these is Alan Rose, application support analyst for Campus Life Information Systems. "My job requires me to sit at my computer for most of the day," Rose said. "Over the years, that had extended to the rest of my life -- I had become very sedentary. I knew I needed to make some changes, so I signed up for this program."

More about CPHL

• Endowed faculty and staff can choose this health insurance plan during Benefits Open Enrollment for themselves and any family members.

• All family members to be covered under this plan, including adult children, must select a participating PCP, take a Web-based health risk assessment and receive a complete annual wellness exam. They then receive recommendations from their PCP on healthy living and fitness goals for the coming year.

• Recommendations may include referrals to local resources or additional services such as smoking cessation and nutritional counseling, or advanced wellness counseling and support services at the Cayuga Center for Healthy Living (covered for Cornell employee CPHL participants by a $12 copay).

• Employee participants may also take advantage of discounted memberships in the Cornell Wellness Program, the Ithaca YMCA or the Island Health & Fitness Center by providing their CPHL Aetna ID card and Cornell ID as proof of enrollment in CPHL.

• For more details, see the Web site.

When he went to his CPHL primary care physician for his annual physical, Rose was diagnosed with high cholesterol. His physician recommended a change of diet and an exercise routine, and referred Rose to a nutritionist. He joined the Cornell Wellness Program (free to CPHL participants) and began a light workout three times each week at Helen Newman Hall.

"The nutritionist changed the balance of foods I eat," Rose said. "Now I eat more vegetables than meat. I've added one ounce of nuts each day; fish twice a week; Cheerios for my breakfast cereal. I've also cut out all trans fats -- anything with the word hydrogenated in the ingredient list -- and most high-fructose corn syrup. I still eat ice cream and burgers."

Rose found that working out over the lunch break with friends helped him keep up his exercise routine. "Having us all begin at similar levels of fitness was really helpful," he said.

The result? Over the course of three months, Rose's "bad" cholesterol dropped 90 points, and he lost 20 lbs. "This may not be typical," Rose admitted, "but for me the small steps I took were just enough to tip the balance."

"I feel better and have a lot more energy," Rose said, adding that he will continue with the CPHL again in 2009.

Reminder: The open enrollment period for endowed health and dental plans and for Select Benefits for both endowed and contract college faculty and staff runs Nov. 10-26. During this time, you may enroll in person or online with eBenefits through Employee Essentials, https://ee.ohr.cornell.edu.

An extension period for hard copy enrollments or changes runs Nov. 27-Dec. 31, but your Select Benefits funds and health plan ID cards may not be immediately available when you need them in early January, due to processing time. For more information, see the Open Enrollment booklet or What's New in Benefits, at http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/whatsNew/whatsNewBenefits/whatsNewBenefits.html.