Anthem, Inc., the parent company of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which provides services for the Empire Plan Hospital Program, has reported a data breach. Effected members will be notified by mail. DO NOT respond to scam phone calls or emails posing as Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The only legitimate contact is by mail. If you want to initiate contact with the company, call 1-877-263-7995 or visit www.anthem.com.
Insurance & Retirement Information
Anything related to medical insurance, Medicare, Social Security, and Retirement Issues.
Alert from NYSUT – Security Breach
Anthem, Inc., the parent organization of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the hospital administrator for the NYSHIP Empire Plan reported an extensive security breach of their members’ data. Names, dates of birth, member IDs/Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and employment information of current and former members were impacted. In the coming weeks, Anthem will send letters to impacted members with an offer of free credit monitoring and identity protection services.
In the interim, direct inquiries to www.anthemfacts.com or 877-263-7995. The website includes FAQs and will be updated as additional information becomes available. Click here for a direct link.
You should be aware of scam email campaigns targeting current and former Anthem members. These scams, designed to capture personal information (known as “phishing”), are designed to appear as if they are from Anthem and the emails include a “click here” link for credit monitoring. These emails are NOT from Anthem.
DO NOT reply to the email or reach out to the senders in any way.
DO NOT supply any information on the website that may open, if you have clicked on a link in email.
DO NOT open any attachments that arrive with email.
Anthem is not calling members regarding the cyber attack and is not asking for credit card information or Social Security numbers over the phone. For more guidance on recognizing scam email, please visit the FTC website: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing.
Information About Medical Insurance Premiums …
A message from U-RTN Insurance Liaison, Hank Kasven, about Medicare and Other Medical Insurance Premiums
Medicare and Premiums
If you are not 65 you will not be able to have Medicare Premiums deducted from your Social Security check. Why you would want to I don’t know? But some questions have been asked. Major Medical premium will be deducted from your pension check, though a brief glitch occurred at the end 2014.
Empire premiums
Empire and other State required premiums are only deducted from your Pension Check, NOT from the Social Security check.
If you are on Medicare, premiums are deducted from BOTH Medicare and pension checks. However, the pension deduction is reimbursed to you every three months by the district. If you pay an income adjusted addition to Medicare ( IRMMA ) you will be reimbursed by the district. I hope this clears up some of the confusion.
Social Security Update
The attached Benefits Bulletin file, in PDF format, covers updates to Social Security and Medicare for 2015.