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.
ANDREW M. CUOMO
GOVERNOR
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12239
www.cs.ny.gov
JERRY BOONE
COMMISSIONER
NY14-10
TO: New York State Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: New Planning for Retirement, January 2014
DATE: March 4, 2014
We are pleased to announce that the new January 2014 Planning for Retirement is at the printer and will be shipped to agencies soon. This popular booklet provides important health insurance information for New York State employees who are planning to retire from State service. The booklet explains health insurance eligibility in retirement, NYSHIP and Medicare, and Empire Plan Medicare Rx. This new version corrects references to the Empire Plan Mental Health and Substance Abuse Program and Prescription Drug Program administrators.
The January 2014 version replaces the May 2013 version. Please remove the May 2013 version from your shelves, recycle and replace it with this new version.
Note: We have removed from the booklet the worksheet and actuarial table for estimating sick leave credit. Please advise employees to use the electronic sick leave calculator for their group on our web site at https://www.cs.ny.gov. Click on Benefit Programs and follow the prompts to access NYSHIP Online. Choose Planning to Retire?, then select Sick Leave Credit and Calculator.
Remember, the companion Planning for Retirement DVD is available to order on HBA Online.
Distribution
We will send you a supply of five copies of this publication. This publication will not be mailed to enrollees' homes. Planning for Retirement is not included in the Quick Order packages, but we encourage you to give the publication to any employee who is beginning to think about retirement.
Publications Available on Our Web Site: https://www.cs.ny.gov
Please check our web site for new publications. We generally post publications when we sign off for printing. This publication will be available on HBA Online under Publications & Forms and on NYSHIP Online. Click on Planning to Retire?
Ordering Publications
You can order additional copies of this publication [NY1045 Planning for Retirement/January 2014] from HBA Online under Publications & Forms. Please wait until you receive your shipment before placing an order for more. If you need help accessing HBA Online, please call the GGC Service Desk at Civil Service at 1-800-HBAEMS1. Call the EBD Help Line at 518-474-2780 with questions about NYSHIP benefits. If you are unsure of how to order publications or have questions about this distribution, please call the EBD Communications Unit at 518-457-7577.
PDF Version