NYSHIP Empire Plan retirees who have Medicare as their primary insurance will be automatically enrolled in a Medicare Part D prescription plan on Jan. 1, 2013, unless they cancel coverage. With this change, the Empire Plan benefits from a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs as part of the Affordable Care Act.
Participants should carefully review any information that is mailed to them by the Department of Civil Service or United Healthcare. The co-pays and list of covered prescriptions will be the same or better than those offered to in-service members.
There is no donut hole. Please note, federal law does not allow a person to be enrolled in more than one Medicare Part D Plan. High income retirees ($85,000 single/$170,000 joint) with Medicare as their primary insurance will be subject to an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount for Part D in addition to their regular premium contribution to the Empire Plan.
The NYSHIP Empire Plan does not require the employer to reimburse this extra amount to the retiree. A 2012 tax rate chart can be found at www.medicare.gov/cost/. The federal government will post a 2013 rate chart soon.
More information can be found at www.cs.ny.gov/empireplanmedicarerx/index.cfm.
If you have any questions, call the Empire Plan at 877-769-7447 and press 4 on the main menu.