Page 19 - Work Force October 2018

Save on 2019 health insurance costs
Choosing your health insurance option for 2019
New York State Active Employees: It’s that time of year to start thinking about your 2019 health insurance options.
New York State typically mails the Planning for Option Transfer fliers to enrollees in late September. The flier describes the requirements and enrollment procedures for several benefits and programs, including NYSHIP health benefits, the Pre-Tax Contribution Program (PTCP) and the Opt-Out Program, if applicable. This document is an important reminder and contains benefit and program deadlines.
If you are thinking of changing health insurance plans during the Open Enrollment Period, the NYSHIP Plan Comparison tool, available on NYSHIP online, generates a side- by-side comparison of Empire Plan and HMO benefits. This tool can help you easily compare services,
co-payments, coinsurance amounts and special programs for The Empire Plan and NYSHIP HMOs.
The comparison tool will be updated with 2019 benefits this
fall when the 2019 Option Transfer Period begins. To access this tool, visit the NYSHIP Online homepage at www.cs.ny.gov/employee- benefits. Select your group and plan, if prompted, and then choose Health Benefits & Option Transfer; click on Rates and Health Plan Choices and the NYSHIP Plan Comparison. Select your group (CSEA) and the counties in which you live and work. Check the box next to the plans you want to compare, and click on Compare Plans to generate the comparison table.
Please watch for additional information in the Work Force as the option transfer period draws near.
Enrollees should start thinking about their expenses for next year.
Do you currently participate in the Flex Spending Account (FSA) or Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)? If you don’t, now is the
ideal time to get more information about these cost-saving benefits,
as enrollment begins in October (enrollment is time-sensitive) and ends in November.
The Flex Spending Account is a negotiated employee benefit for state
employees. There
are two parts to the
FSA; the Health Care
Spending Account
(HCSAccount)
(medical, hospital,
laboratory,
prescription, dental,
vision, hearing expenses,
etc., not reimbursed by
insurance or benefit plan) and the Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAAccount) (child care, elder care or disabled dependent care, required for an employee or spouse to work). Both are types of flexible spending accounts that give you a way to pay for your health care expenses or dependent care with pre-tax dollars. Enrollment in the flexible spending account is voluntary — you decide
how much to have taken out of your paycheck.
For more information about the Flex Spending Account programs, including eligibility, enrolling online and calculating your out-of-pocket expenses, visit www.flexspendny.gov or call 1-800-358-7202.
Another program that helps
to save enrollees money is the Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP), which allows eligible full
and part-time state employees to exchange previously
accrued vacation leave and/or personal leave,
in return for a biweekly credit that reduces
their share of the New York State Health
Insurance Program (NYSHIP) premium.
Eligible CSEA active state members can receive up to a $600 credit (about $23
biweekly) or $1,200 credit (about $46 biweekly), determined by salary grade and number of days forfeited.
Review the Planning for Option Transfer documentation and contact your health benefits administrator, usually located in your personnel office, or, if applicable, the Business Service Center if you have questions or to confirm your eligibility for this benefit.
Join Your SEFA Campaign.
Individuals, families and causes are helped by the State Employees Federated Appeal. WE are SEFA.
www.sefanys.org
Quest diagnostics joins Empire Plan Network
Effective Jan. 1, 2019, Quest Diagnostics will be joining The Empire Plan as an in-network laboratory provider. Quest Diagnostics has
6,000 in-network
patient locations nationwide.
LabCorp will also
remain an in-network option.
You can use United Healthcare’s Empire Plan online provider directory to find a Quest Diagnostics location near you.
Go to www.cs.ny.gov/employee- benefits and choose your group and plan, if prompted. From the NYSHIP Online homepage, select Find a
Provider and scroll to the Medical/Surgical Program.
If you have any questions about Quest
Diagnostics or need assistance finding a lab, call 1-877-7-NYSHIP (1-877-769-7447) and press or say 1 for the Medical/Surgical Program.
October 2018
The Work Force 19