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
NY24-03
TO: New York State Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: NYSHIP Health Benefit Publications for employees of New York State represented by DC-37 and NYSCOPBA, effective July 1, 2024
DATE: April 26, 2024
As a result of the recently ratified contract between the State of New York and District Council 37 (DC-37) and the recently ratified contract between the State of New York and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), there will be Empire Plan benefit changes and NYSHIP premium rate changes for these groups, effective July 1, 2024. The May 2024 Empire Plan Special Report and NYSHIP Rate Changes flyer for DC-37 and NYSCOPBA are now available online and will soon be mailed to enrollee homes and agencies. Enrollees represented by NYSCOPBA will also be mailed a Dental/Vision brochure describing their negotiated changes in mid-May. New Empire Plan benefit cards will be mailed to all affected enrollees in late May-early June, and a July 1, 2024 Empire Plan At A Glance will be mailed to enrollee homes and agencies in late June.
Since these benefits will result in rate changes effective July 1, 2024, health insurance option changes may be made during the Special Option Transfer Period from May 28 through June 28, 2024. Please note that any enrollee considering an option change should be referred to 2024 Choices for active enrollees (AL1998) only.
You will receive a memo from the Division that provides complete details for Health Benefits Administrators regarding the rate change and how the Special Option Transfer Period will be administered. Please hold any questions you may have about the rate change and Special Option Transfer Period until you have received and carefully reviewed the forthcoming memo.
The Empire Plan Special Report for DC-37 and NYSCOPBA (NY1520) includes: Information about reduced in-network maximum out-of-pocket limits, single visit copayment, the Site of Care Program for Infusions, a new Center of Excellence for Substance Use Disorder and a change to the reimbursement methodology for non-network claims. An informational presentation about the benefit changes is available online. The Empire Plan Special Report includes a QR code for accessing it using a mobile device or tablet. The approximately 12-minute resource can also be accessed on NYSHIP Online under What’s New.
The NYSHIP Rate Changes flyer for DC-37 and NYSCOPBA (NY1519) includes: New rates effective July 1, 2024 and information about the Special Option Transfer Period.
The NYSCOPBA Dental/Vision brochure (NY1524) includes: Dental benefit details as well as vision benefit enhancements that were included in the recently ratified contract between the State of New York and NYSCOPBA.
The Empire Plan At A Glance (NF1176 for DC-37 and NF1179 for NYSCOPBA) includes: Useful information that serves as a summary guide to Empire Plan benefits. These versions will replace the January 1, 2024 versions and the enrollee mailing will include an updated settled version of the Out-of-Network Reimbursement Disclosures (AL1523).
Distribution
The May 2024 publications will begin to mail to enrollee homes at the end of April. The mail file for the Empire Plan Special Report was pulled from NYBEAS on April 6th, and the mail files for the NYSHIP Rate Changes flyer and the NYSCOPBA Dental/Vision Brochure were pulled from NYBEAS on April 20th. Any enrollees who were not on the file on those dates should be provided copies of the appropriate publication(s). The At A Glance publications will be mailed to enrollee homes in June, and we will pull the mail file closer to that date. We will send you two copies of each publication when they are available.
Publications Available on NYSHIP Online: www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits You can also access the publications online under Using Your Benefits from the NYSHIP Online home page. Note: The Dental/Vision brochure is available under the Other Benefits tab.
Ordering Publications
You may order additional copies of the publications and copayment cards 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.