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.
GOVERNOR
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12239
www.cs.ny.gov
COMMISSIONER
NY10-04
TO: New York State Agency Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: April 1, 2010 Empire Plan At A Glance for Council-82 and NYSCOPBA with Copayment Cards and 2010 Flexible Formulary
DATE: March 19, 2010
We are pleased to tell you that the April 1, 2010 Empire Plan At A Glance publications for Council-82 and NYSCOPBA (Contract Affected) are at the printer. These publications will replace the January 2010 Empire Plan At A Glance for the employees in these two groups. It is important to note that the April 1, 2010 At A Glance for Council-82 does NOT apply to employees in the Agency Law Enforcement Services Unit (ALESU) and the April 1, 2010 At A Glance for NYSCOPBA (Contract Affected) does NOT apply to employees in lifeguard titles. Both of these sub-groups will continue to use the January 2010 publications that were mailed to enrollee homes in December 2009. Therefore, if you have enrollees in these sub-groups, it is important to retain the January 2010 At A Glance publications and pay particular attention when distributing materials to enrollees in these groups to ensure they receive the proper materials.
This new benefit guide offers a brief description of The Empire Plan, including health insurance coverage benefit changes determined through each group’s arbitration agreement that became effective on or before April 1, 2010.
These publications will be mailed to applicable enrollees along with these enclosures:
- A set of four new Empire Plan 2010 Copayment Cards for C-82/NYSCOPBA with copayment changes, effective April 1, 2010. The new cards are for enrollees represented by Council-82 and NYSCOPBA and for their enrolled dependents and for COBRA enrollees with their Empire Plan benefits (except employees in ALESU and employees in lifeguard titles).
- The 2010 Empire Plan Flexible Formulary. This prescription drug list will be new for these two groups beginning April 1, 2010, replacing the 2010 Empire Plan Preferred Drug List.
The At A Glance is a useful guide for new employees, conferences and health fairs. Please encourage employees to use this guide together with their Empire Plan Certificate and Certificate Amendments.
Distribution
These publications will be mailed to enrollee homes in March. We will send you, in separate shipments, a supply of each publication equal to two percent of your Empire Plan enrollment for new hires. The materials are group-specific making it important for you to review the contents of each shipment carefully. Dropshipments of the At A Glance and the enclosures will be delivered to agencies in late March or early April. These publications will also be included in group-specific new hire and new retiree Empire Plan packages, which are only available to order on HBA Online.
Ordering Publications
You may order additional standalone copies of each April 1, 2010 Empire Plan At A Glance, 2010 Copayment Cards for C-82 and/or NYSCOPBA, and the 2010 Empire Plan Flexible Formulary on HBA Online at https://www.cs.state.ny.us/ebdonline. Open Publications & Forms and make your selection, then open NYSHIP Publication Order Forms and choose the appropriate group. Please wait until you receive your initial shipment of each version before ordering more. If you need help accessing HBA Online, please call the Help Desk at 1-800-HBA-EMS1 (800-422-3671) or your processor.
If you are unsure of how to order publications, or if you have questions about this distribution, please call the Communications Unit at 518-457-7577.