February is American Heart Month, which means it’s the perfect time for you to make sure your heart is healthy.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly half of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, which is defined as a systolic blood pressure (top number) greater than 130 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) greater than 80 mmHg.

Take care of your heart health. Scheduling an annual preventive checkup with your primary care provider (PCP) is a great place to start. A PCP may recommend additional screenings following the checkup.

If additional screenings are needed, the HealthSelectShoppERS incentive program may alleviate some of your financial stress. When eligible HealthSelect medical plan participants and their eligible dependents shop and choose high-quality, lower-cost options for certain medical services or procedures, like MRIs and CT scans, they can earn up to $500 in TexFlex flexible spending account (FSA) rewards each plan year. Earned incentives will be deposited into the member’s TexFlex FSA account. If the member does not have a TexFlex FSA account, the Employees Retirement System of Texas will open one for them after they earn a reward.

The HealthSelectShoppERS flier explains how the programs works.  If you have questions, call a BCBSTX Personal Health Assistant at (800) 252-8039 (TTY: 711), Monday – Friday 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. CT

To find what may work best for you, talk to your doctor. You can also follow these common preventive measures:

• Maintain a healthy diet and weight
• Exercise, after talking to your doctor
• Monitor your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar
• Avoid or limit caffeine, alcohol and smoking
• Take your medications regularly and as prescribed by your doctor

To learn more, including common heart attack symptoms, check out Good heart health by Optum Rx in the Education Information section of www.HealthSelectRx.com. Or, call (855) 828-9834 (TTY: 711).

You can also get more information here:

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: www.nhlbi.nih.gov
• American Heart Association: www.heart.org