Department of Civil Service

NY06-32

TO: New York State Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Communications Plan: Option Transfer Period for 2007
DATE: September 12, 2006

We are happy to announce Option Transfer posters, Planning for Option Transfer, Choices for 2007 (Choices) for Actives, and the communications schedule for this year's Option Transfer Period. A separate memorandum will address transactions and other option transfer items.

Poster
We are enclosing option transfer posters equal to two percent of your NYSHIP enrollment as a reminder of the Option Transfer Period, the Flex Spending Account deadline of November 10, the Productivity Enhancement Program Deadline of November 24, and the pre-tax deadline of November 30.

Planning for Option Transfer
Planning for Option Transfer flyers will be mailed to enrollee homes beginning September 13, 2006. We will also ship you a supply of flyers equal to three percent of your NYSHIP enrollment. Please distribute these at information meetings and to employees who request them. If your agency requires more than three percent, please use the enclosed Special Order Form to order more. Or use the online publication ordering system. Look for [AL0690 Planning for OT/September 2006].

Health Insurance Choices
We will also ship you a supply of Choices, this year's option transfer booklet, in October. We are publishing two versions of Choices for active employees again this year. One version is for settled groups (blue) and one for unsettled groups (green).

As of the date of this memo, the following groups should receive the settled (blue) version:

• CSEA;
• Council 82/ALESU (subject to binding arbitration award);
• Courts;
• DC 37;
• Legislature;
• M/C;
• NYSCOPBA (subject to binding arbitration award);
• PBA Supervisors;
• PBA Troopers;
• PIA;
• PEF; and
• UUP.

As of the date of this memo, the following groups should receive the unsettled (green) version:

• Council 82 (not subject to binding arbitration award); and
• NYSCOPBA (not subject to binding arbitration award).

We will only send the unsettled (green) version of Choices to those agencies that have enrollees in these groups. When the unsettled groups reach agreement, new enrollees in these groups should receive the settled version. You will receive notification of this from EBD when it occurs. Please distribute the appropriate versions for their group to employees who request them. Our inventory will accommodate agencies that need more than the supply shipped. We will also send with your Choices shipment(s) a small supply of HMO enrollment forms. You can order more from the Special Order Form enclosed with this memo or online, but please do not order publications until you have received your shipment.

Benefits Information
The Empire Plan benefit information in Active Choices is up to date for January 1, 2007. We will provide any additional information to you as it becomes available. Please provide employees with the most recent group-specific information when they request it.

Distribution of Rate Flyer
A four-page rate flyer, Rates & Deadlines for 2007, will be mailed to enrollee homes when rates are approved. The rate flyers provide the rates for 2007, the deadline for option changes and other important dates, such as payroll deduction dates. We will send you a supply equal to three percent of your NYSHIP enrollment at the same time.

Option Transfer Policy for NYSHIP enrollees with Retiree Benefits
Remember, NYSHIP enrollees with retiree benefits* are permitted to change health insurance options at any time once during a 12-month period. This policy was changed in 2003 to allow retirees more flexibility and time to consider personal factors affecting their health insurance option.

Retiree Choices/Information for other enrollees
Retiree Choices will continue to be published in four regional versions. The regional versions will be printed and mailed to enrollee homes as soon as they are available. Retirees will receive the version appropriate to the region where they live. There will also be a Statewide Retiree Choices booklet published for the 2007 plan year. We will send five statewide versions first and a separate shipment of one copy of each regional version when they are available. Please distribute the statewide version to new retirees. Any enrollees on Leave Without Pay, COBRA and other direct-pay enrollees will receive Statewide Retiree Choices and rate sheets in the mail at home. You may order Statewide Retiree Choices throughout 2007. Regional Retiree Choices will not be available for reorder.

We will mail separately a 2007 Rates & Information for Retirees flyer which includes the rates for each health insurance option for State agency retirees and some dependent survivors of the Thruway Authority. This publication also includes a notice to retirees of other Participating Employers that they should contact their former employer for 2007 rates.

Information on the Internet
All Option Transfer publications, including the rate flyers will be available on the Department of Civil Service web site at www.cs.state.ny.us.  To view the latest Option Transfer information available, go to www.cs.state.ny.us, click on Benefit Programs, then on NYSHIP Online. Select your group if prompted, and then click on Health Benefits. Choose Rates and Health Plan Choices.

This information is also available on Employee Benefits’ administrative web site, hba_online, www.cs.state.ny.us/ebdonline. Select Health Plan Choices on the home page to go to Option Transfer information.

We will remove the 2006 Option Transfer information from both the public and administrative web sites in October. However, if you wish to view this information, it is still available in the archives of each site. From the Department of Civil Service home page, click on Benefit Programs, then on NYSHIP Online. Select your group if prompted, and then click on Using Your Benefits. Choose Archived Publications. From the hba_online home page, select Publications and Forms then Archived Publications.

To order health benefits materials: A Special Order Form for Option Transfer publications is enclosed so that you may order additional materials during the Option Transfer Period.  If you need more publications, you can fax us the Special Order Form, which is attached to this memo. To order Choices during the Option Transfer Period, fax us the Special Order Form attached to this memo and also packed in the box with Choices, but please do not order publications until you have received your shipment. To order Option Transfer materials after the Option Transfer Period, please use the regular Publications Supply Request Forms. The Special Order Form is also available on hba_online.

To reach Communications: Please call (518) 457-7577 or FAX (518) 402-4697.

*NYSHIP Enrollees with Retiree benefits include: Retirees, Vestees, Dependent Survivors and Enrollees Covered Under Preferred List Provisions of New York State Government and Participating Employers and COBRA enrollees with their NYSHIP benefits. 

Enclosures
Special Order Form