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
LOLA W. BRABHAM
Acting Commissioner
NY20-12
PE20-10
PA20-09
SEHP20-05
PAEX20-09
TO: All Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: 2020 Empire Plan Participating Provider Directory (PPD) Postcards and Directories
DATE: June 18, 2020
Empire Plan Participating Provider Directory Postcards
We have begun mailing the 2020 PPD postcards to all Empire Plan enrollees across the United States and Puerto Rico to meet our mandate of making directories available to all enrollees. This year, the postcards will be broken out into four separate mailings to more closely align with the availability of the 2020 printed Participating Provider Directories that cover the geographic areas in which enrollees live.
Postcards will be mailed as follows:
| June 16 |
New York |
| July 6 |
Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida |
| July 27 |
North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington DC/Maryland and the out-of-state directories for the following states: Alabama – Louisiana |
| August 11 | Virginia, Illinois, Arizona and the remaining out-of-state directories (Maine – Wyoming) |
Last year, we received orders for more than 58,000 directories by the end of October.
While we encourage the use of the online Find a Provider search tool that is updated frequently, enrollees have three options for obtaining Empire Plan participating provider information:
- Use the Find a Provider search tool at NYSHIP Online: www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits
- Call The Empire Plan at 1-877-7-NYSHIP and select the appropriate program administrator
- Return the reply postcard (with a stamp) to request a directory
Versions for 2020
On the postcard, enrollees are offered check boxes to select a directory based on their home ZIP Code or they may print the name of another version. Once again this year, the New York and Florida directories are divided into separate books due to size (see attachment). If the enrollee would like to order any of these directories, we request that the county or counties where they will be seeking services be listed so the correct version can be mailed. In compliance with State law, languages spoken by providers and/or their staff and provider hospital affiliations are listed for the New York directories only.
Directory Distribution
The 2020 PPDs for New York will begin to mail to the homes of those who request them in mid-July. PPDs for Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Northern Florida, South Carolina, Southern Florida, Pennsylvania, Washington DC/Maryland and Virginia will follow in August and September. The remaining out-of-state versions are currently scheduled to mail in September.
We will send you one directory based on your agency location. In response to feedback from HBAs, we will no longer mail other versions to you automatically. If you would like to have reference copies for your agency, please order them on HBA Online. On the forms and publications page, the directory order form is located at the top of the page. We will add versions to the order form as they are printed and available in inventory.
Quick Order Packages
A blank PPD postcard is also included in the Quick Order packages that you may order on HBA Online for your new hires or new retirees.
If you need help accessing HBA Online, contact the ITS Service Desk at 844-891-1786, fixit@its.ny.gov or via chat at https://chat.its.ny.gov.
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.