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
PE23-16
TO: Health Benefits Administrators of Participating Employers (PEs)
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: October 2023 Empire Plan Reports
DATE: October 31, 2023
The October 2023 Empire Plan Reports for PE Active employees (PE0201) as well as a version for NY/PE Retirees (AL2016) are now available online and will soon be mailed to enrollee homes and agencies. The Reports explain changes to the Plan and have important reminders for enrollees, including information on assignment of benefits for non-participating Medical/Surgical providers, coverage for preventive vaccines and boosters, an expansion of the infusion therapy site of care program and the Empire BlueCross name change to Anthem Blue Cross.
Distribution
These Reports will begin to mail to enrollees’ homes in November. The mail files were pulled from NYBEAS on October 28, 2023, so any enrollee who was not on the file on that date should be provided with a copy. We will also ship two copies of each publication to agencies.
Publications Available on NYSHIP Online: www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits
You can also access the publications online under the Using Your Benefits tab on the NYSHIP Online homepage, then click on Current Publications.
Ordering Publications
You may order additional copies of the Reports on HBA Online under Publications & Forms. Please do not order copies until you have received your shipments.
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.