Department of Civil Service

NY08-01

TO: New York State Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Enrollment Requests through MyNYSHIP
DATE: January 24, 2008

MyNYSHIP Functionality to Include Enrollment Requests

Active New York State employees can currently use MyNYSHIP to order Empire Plan ID cards, change their address with NYSHIP, and submit Option Transfer requests. This functionality has been expanded to include submitting requests for enrollment in NYSHIP and the NYS Dental and Vision plans for eligible employees. This is not mandatory; employees may still submit a completed PS-404 to their HBA to enroll in benefits.

This functionality will be available to all active State employees, whether they are new employees enrolling in benefits for the first time or existing employees that are not currently enrolled in benefits.

NYBEAS Job Record and Personal Data Must Exist for Employees to Register for MyNYSHIP

Before an employee can enroll in benefits using MyNYSHIP, a Hire or Rehire transaction must be processed by the HBA for employees not processed through NYSTEP. This transaction will assign a Benefit Program so the correct waiting period can be calculated in MyNYSHIP when they enroll.

The employee can then register for MyNYSHIP by entering their Last Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth and Zip Code. These fields must successfully match what is contained in their NYBEAS record to gain entry into MyNYSHIP. Once registered, the employee will be sent an Activation Code to their home address, which they will need in order to proceed with the Enrollment Request. Employees usually receive their Activation Code within 3 - 5 business days.

What does an employee enter when submitting an Enrollment Request through MyNYSHIP?

A separate request is submitted for enrollment in NYSHIP medical benefits, the NYS Dental Plan and the NYS Vision Plan. The option to request enrollment in the NYS Dental and Vision Plans is only offered to employees eligible for those benefits.

Information provided to employee during transaction:

• Choice of Plans (based on counties where they live and work), Employee Premium, and Projected Benefits-Start Date
• Information regarding eligibility rules and documentation they are required to provide to the HBA for themselves and all dependents (Attachment A)
• Information on the Pre-Tax Contribution Program
• Information on Waiting Periods before coverage begins for new employees (Attachment B)

To request enrollment in benefits the employee enters the following:

• Choice of Plan
• Individual or Family Coverage
• If Family Coverage is requested, information about Dependents (Name, Social Security Number, Relationship, Sex, Date of Birth, Address if Different than employee)
• Election to Participate in or Decline Pre-Tax Contribution Program (if applicable)
• An e-mail address if they would like to be notified when their Enrollment Request is approved

HBA Must Collect Required Proofs from Employee and Approve/Disapprove Enrollment Request in NYBEAS

All enrollment requests are ‘pended’ for approval by the HBA. A Worklist item is generated in NYBEAS for each enrollment request. There are no changes to the procedures for collecting and maintaining the required proofs. All proofs must be submitted by the employee before the Enrollment Request is approved. As part of the MyNYSHIP Enrollment Request, the employee is presented with a list of eligibility and documentation requirements (Attachment A).

NYBEAS Worklist

A separate request is submitted for enrollment in NYSHIP medical benefits, the NYS Dental Plan and the NYS Vision Plan. A new Worklist, MyNYSHIP Enrollment, has been created. There will be a separate worklist item for each Plan Type (Medical, Dental, Vision) for which the employee requests enrollment.

Selecting a Worklist Item will open up the Enrollment Request in the Pending Enrollment Page in NYBEAS:

Home >> Compensate Employees >> Administer NYBEAS Updates >> ESS >> Pending Enrollment

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Approved Transactions

Once an Enrollment Request is approved, the Dependent/Beneficiary panel will be updated for each new dependent that was added through the MyNYSHIP Enrollment Request, and the Enrollment (ENR/REG) will automatically be processed. If the employee requested e-mail notification when their request was submitted, once the enrollment is approved by the HBA an e-mail will automatically be generated indicating that their transaction was processed. The e-mail will not include details of the transaction. Therefore if the enrollment request was not approved exactly as submitted the HBA should notify the enrollee.

Disapproved Transactions

If the entire Enrollment Request is disapproved, no e-mail notification will be sent to the employee. The HBA should notify the employee of the disapproval. If the transaction is disapproved, a comment box will be displayed on the Pending Enrollment page which the HBA can use to state the reason the transaction was disapproved.

Questions

For additional information on MyNYSHIP please refer to HBA Memo NY07-11 and NY07-39. Please contact your processor with any questions.

Attachments: