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
TIMOTHY R. HOGUES
Commissioner
NY23-14
PE23-09
TO: Health Benefits Administrators of New York State Agencies; Health Benefits Administrators of Participating Employers
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Welcome to EBD, June 2023
DATE: June 28, 2023
A newly designed and revised Welcome to EBD booklet is at the printer and will soon be available.
This booklet is a useful tool for retirees. It explains how the Employee Benefits Division (EBD) becomes their HBA in retirement and helps them stay in touch with EBD after they retire. It informs retirees about timely Medicare enrollment, offers tips for using NYSHIP Online, describes how the EBD Call Center assists them and includes frequently used forms to manage their NYSHIP benefits.
The June 2023 version (AL2001) replaces the March 2019 version (AL1650). Please recycle any copies you may have of the old version.
Distribution
This publication is part of the Retiree Quick Order (QO) packages for both Empire Plan and HMO enrollees. If you place an order online for the new NY Retiree or PE Retiree QO packages, this booklet is included and will be mailed to the enrollee’s home.
We will send you two copies of this booklet to distribute to your enrollees who are retiring.
Publications Available on NYSHIP online: www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits
Please check our website for new publications. We generally post publications when we sign off for printing. Publications are available under Using Your Benefits.
Ordering Publications
You may order additional copies of Welcome to EBD on HBA Online under Publications & Forms. Please do not order copies until you have received your shipment.
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.