The Empire Plan is a unique health insurance plan designed especially for public employees in New York State. Empire Plan benefits include inpatient and outpatient hospital coverage, medical/surgical coverage, Centers of Excellence for transplants, infertility and cancer, home care services, equipment and supplies, mental health and substance abuse coverage and prescription drug coverage.
PA17-05
PAEX17-05
TO: Participating Agency Chief Executive Officers and Health Benefit Administrators
FROM: David J. Boland, Director of the Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Empire Plan Quarterly Experience Report
DATE: March 17, 2017
Dear Chief Executive Officer:
Attached is the Empire Plan Fourth Quarter Experience Report for 2016. This report presents the projected 2016 Empire Plan experience, based on claims paid through December 31, 2016 and the projected 2018 premium rates.
For the 2016 Plan Year, the Empire Plan vendors project a net surplus of $9.0 million, or 0.1% of premium. The underlying causes for the projected surplus are discussed in the report.
Exhibit II presents the projected 2018 Empire Plan premium rates. These projections include a tentative dividend application amount of $75 million, which represents one-half of the dividend application that was included in the 2017 rates. The "best estimate" projected net premium increase for 2017 is 9.7%, in aggregate, for The Empire Plan and 10.2%, in aggregate, for The Excelsior Plan. These projections are based on a number of assumptions made by the vendors and the Department, and include a projected aggregate claims trend of approximately 8.3%. These assumptions are likely to change prior to the development of the final 2018 premium rates; however, the 2018 premium increases projected in this report are considered to be fairly aggressive at this time.
Given the ongoing fiscal challenges faced by the State and its localities, our continuing goal is to achieve 2018 NYSHIP rates that are as low as possible while promoting rate stability for the near future. The 2018 premium rate development and related proceedings will begin in September.
I hope this report is informative. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.