Starting in December of this year, NYSHIP is conducting a Dependent Eligibility Audit; if you have family coverage, you will have to provide documentation to prove that the dependents you are claiming are actually eligible for NYSHIP coverage. A few things to note:

  1. There is an amnesty period till January 29th for voluntarily removing ineligible dependents from coverage (in other words, if you remove ineligible dependents by that date, you will not be liable for repaying claims already paid out for them). To clarify, if you’re removing ineligible dependents from your NYSHIP coverage, you should send the letter early enough so that the company doing this audit, HMS, receives it by January 29th, 2016 (look in your mail for an information packet on the process you need to go through to remove dependents).
  2. Once this amnesty period is over, you will have to provide proof of eligibility for each dependent you have enrolled in NYSHIP; check your mail in the first half of next year for an information packet with instructions on how to provide documentation and when you need to provide it by. Keep in mind that not sending in this documentation has these consequences: your dependent will end up removed from NYSHIP coverage, and, as the enrollee, you may be responsible for paying back insurance claim payments (the letter also notes that the Department of Civil Services may impose other penalties, but does not specify what those are).

See the attached scans of the letter from Civil Services for more information:

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