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.
KATHY HOCHUL
Governor
REBECCA A. CORSO
Acting Commissioner
PE21-17
PA21-14
PAEX21-12
TO: Participating Agency and Participating Employer Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Revised Policy Memos
DATE: November 2, 2021
The Employee Benefits Division is pleased to announce the recent revision of two NYSHIP policy memos: Policy Memo 30r1, “PA and PE Employees Enrolled in Non-NYSHIP Plans through their PA or PE at Retirement,” and Policy Memo 139r2, “Required Dependent Proofs.”
Policy Memo 30r1 has been revised to specifically reference “Participating Employers.” While it has been the Division’s practice to apply the policy to both Participating Agencies (PAs) and Participating Employers (PEs), the previous version of the memo only mentioned “Participating Agencies” by name. This oversight has been corrected with the recent revision to PM-30r1. The memo has also been revised to clarify that once an employee attains eligibility for NYSHIP benefits as a retiree, they may pause their enrollment and rejoin NYSHIP at a later date.
Policy Memo 139r2 outlines the proofs an enrollee must submit when requesting coverage for their dependent. The changes to the memo include additional guidance on proofs for adopted children, a reminder that a court filed acknowledgment of paternity can be accepted if a birth certificate does not prove a child’s relationship to an enrollee, and additional direction on how to verify and add dependents who are ineligible to receive a Social Security Number (e.g. citizens of other countries).
In addition to the changes described above, both memos have been revised for clarity and readability. The complete memos can be viewed on the Policy Memo page of HBA Online: https://www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits/hba/shared/apps/policymemos/.