Department of Civil Service

NY25-19
PE25-14
PA25-11
SEHP25-10

TO: All Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: New York Benefits Eligibility and Accounting System (NYBEAS) and Other Upgrades
DATE: September 5, 2025

The NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Department of Civil Service (DCS) will be conducting upgrades to the New York Benefits Eligibility and Accounting System (NYBEAS), the Accident Reporting System (ARS) and the login channel for two DCS applications. 

These upgrades will facilitate vendor support and security, improve system performance and scalability, and allow future application updates.

NYBEAS Upgrade

In order to complete these upgrades, NYBEAS will be inaccessible between Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 7 a.m., including for read- and view-only access. Once this period begins, the current NYBEAS web address will no longer be functional. Please ensure all transactions are up to date in advance.

During the upgrade period, Employee Benefits Division (EBD) staff will not have access to enrollee records. Therefore, the Employee Benefits Enrollee toll-free line, 1-800-833-4344, and the HBA Help Line, 518-474-2780, will be unavailable. However, Empire Plan enrollees will still be able to call 1-877-7-NYSHIP for questions regarding claims, finding network providers, and pre-certification. HMO members should contact their HMO directly using the contact number on the back of their benefits card.

In the event of urgent coverage or enrollment issues impacting the ability of enrollees or their dependents to receive medical services or prescriptions, HBAs should send a secured/encrypted email to agency.services@cs.ny.gov with:

• A description of the problem
• The enrollee and/or dependent’s name, date of birth, Social Security number and agency code
• All appropriate proofs and forms

Although most functionality remains the same, after the upgrade, users may notice modest visual changes to the NYBEAS interface. In the coming weeks, EBD will share a memo with information on these visual changes. This memo will contain information on an upcoming NYBEAS webinar and the new NYBEAS web address.

ARS Upgrade

The ARS system, including the ARS Call Center, will also be inaccessible during the same upgrade period.

In the event of workplace incidents requiring urgent medical services or prescriptions, personnel administrators should call the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) (518-437-8050) to report the incident and receive information on obtaining appropriate care.

Non-urgent incidents, as well as the urgent incidents reported to NYSIF, can be entered into the new ARS system after 7 a.m. on Oct. 14. Employees may also contact the ARS Call Center at 1-888-800-0029 when phone lines resume at 8 a.m. the same day.

DCS Application Logins

ITS and DCS are also upgrading the login process for HBA Online and the Online Civil Service Permission Request System (OCSPR) to use a NY.gov ID. These applications will remain functional during the upgrade period.

If you have a NY.gov ID, the first time you use it to log in to a DCS application, our system will attempt to link it with your existing DCS account. If our system cannot do so automatically, you will be given an opportunity to manually link your accounts by providing additional information. If you have already used your NY.gov ID to log in to DCS applications, no additional action is needed. 

If you do not have a NY.gov ID, you must set up one with your work email address. You can learn more at https://www.ny.gov/services/get-my-nygov-id 

Please reach out to support@cs.ny.gov for assistance. Thank you for your cooperation.