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
NY25-01
TO: New York State Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Revised Empire Plan Certificates for CSEA, M/C; Legislature, NY Retiree and UCS effective July 1, 2023, and for PEF and UUP effective January 1, 2024
DATE: January 24, 2025
The updated Empire Plan Certificates for NY Retirees and employees of the State of New York in CSEA, M/C; Legislature and UCS with changes effective July 1, 2023, and for employees of the State of New York in PEF and UUP with changes effective January 1, 2024, are available on the NYSHIP website and will be mailed to enrollee homes. Empire Plan Certificates for employees of the State of New York in APSU, C-82, DC-37, NYSCOPBA, PBA and PIA have been updated with amendments through December 31, 2023, and are only available online on the NYSHIP website and HBA Online. See HBA Memo NY 25-02 for more information.
Amendments detailing changes to The Empire Plan since publication of each group’s last Certificate are available on the NYSHIP website and HBA Online. The online amendments have been incorporated into the print versions, which have also been posted online.
Certificates were previously printed and posted online for each group:
|
Group |
Date of Previous Printed Certificate |
Date of Previous Online Certificate |
|
CSEA |
January 1, 2019 |
January 1, 2022 |
|
M/C; Legislature |
January 1, 2019 |
January 1, 2022 |
|
NY Retiree |
January 1, 2021 |
January 1, 2022 |
|
PEF |
June 1, 2018 |
January 1, 2022 |
|
UCS |
January 1, 2021 |
January 1, 2022 |
|
UUP |
January 1, 2019 |
January 1, 2022 |
Distribution
Certificates will be mailed to enrollee homes in January. The file for this mailing was pulled from NYBEAS on January 4, 2025, so anyone whose Empire Plan enrollment becomes effective after that date should be provided a copy.
Publications Available on www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits
Please check the NYSHIP website for new publications under Using Your Benefits.
Ordering Publications
You may order copies of the group-specific Certificates on HBA Online under Publications & Forms. This publication is included in the Quick Order packages, which are only available to order on HBA Online.
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.