COLUMBIA COUNTY
HUMAN RESOURCES and PAYROLL

 Columbia County Human Resources and Payroll
  401 State Street
Hudson, NY 12534
  Phone: 518-828-4086
          Fax: 518-828-1991

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HealthEquity has become aware of criminal efforts to lure members to fake websites impersonating HealthEquity. The fraudsters aim to capture unsuspecting members’ login credentials and use them to access accounts on the real HealthEquity website (www.healthequity.com). We believe that only one of Columbia County’s employees fell victim to this scam.

 

HealthEquity systems have not been compromised. We are actively monitoring for and securing impacted accounts and are working with relevant authorities to remove fraudulent websites from the internet.

 

We are reaching out to any impacted individuals to assist them in securing their accounts, and will be providing proactive education to help account holders stay vigilant and avoid scams. If one of your employees believes their account has been compromised, please instruct them to take the following steps:


1. Contact HealthEquity Member Services at 866.346.5800

2. Reference the fraudulent fake website/domain.

3. Provide their name.

4. Review their recent transaction history with the Member Services representative.

5. Reset their username and password with Member Services assistance.

6. Remain diligent when monitoring their account activity to ensure all transactions and changes (e.g., to current bank account and contact information) are  accurate.

 

To help mitigate the risk of fraud, individuals should always avoid clicking on suspicious links within emails and search engines, and should only log into their account through the HealthEquity website or mobile app.

New York State Retirement Online! Be sure to sign up now if you haven't already for easy access to your benefit information and tools to manage your account.

register-for-retirement-online.pdf

Are you looking for ways to spend your FSA funds??? Please click the link for some ideas...

Direct link:   https://learn.healthequity.com/qme/

Shop: www.fsastore.com


Want to learn more about Flexible Spending Plans (FSA)? Contact Human Resources at 518-828-4086.

Open enrollment coming this fall for enrolling in the 2024 plan.

*********************************************

BRAND-NAME MEDICATIONS FOR $0 COPAY!

To help you reduce your out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications, our health plan includes a great mail order program through a company called CANARX (previously known as Columbia County Meds). This benefit allows you to obtain certain brand-name medications at a ZERO COPAY. 

 

POSTCARD COMING TO YOU SOON!

In the very near future, if you are taking one of CANARX's covered medications, you will receive a postcard in your mail from CANARX pointing you to a website that includes everything you need to take advantage of the program.

 

We believe in the CANARX program and highly encourage all members to:

1.       Check out the website http://www.canarx.com/plan/?planid=COLCNTY OR www.canarx.com  WebID: COLCNTY

2.      Search for your medications (formulary)

3.      Download enrollment material

4.      Watch this 2 ½ minute CANARX Overview video

5.      Review the Frequently Asked Questions about the CANARX program

 

CANARX is simple, safe and smart. Give it a try today. If you are enrolled in CDPHP you are enrolled in CANARX (no need to wait for open enrollment)! 

For more information, feel free to give their excellent customer service team a call at 1-866-893-6337.

 

Please reach out to Human Resources,518-828-4086, should you have any questions.


2024 CDPHP MAIL ORDER PHARMACY CHANGE 

CDPHP has chosen to not use Walmart Mail Order Pharmacy for their mail order prescription pharmacy in 2024. You may continue to use the local Walmart in-store pharmacies. Their new pharmacy for mail order will be Optum Home Delivery. 

-Now is a great time to review the "Rx For Less" to see if you can fill your prescription, for as low as a penny a pill, at a local pharmacy. You can get up to a 90 day supply locally for any of the medications on the list. The list is attached to this email. CVS pharmacies do not participate in this program.

-If you are using Walmart Mail Order Pharmacy, please call the pharmacy phone number on the back of your CDPHP ID card,      1-888-292-6330, to have your prescriptions set up with Optum Home Delivery. Have a list of the prescriptions you would like filled using mail order, the name of the doctor who prescribed them, the doctor's location and have your spouse handy if they have prescriptions to transfer as well. Optum will be reaching out to your doctors for new prescriptions. Optum will email you to let you know they requested the prescriptions, email you again when the doctor has sent your prescription to them and then email you when they send it out to you.

Optum Home Delivery has AUTOMATIC DELIVERY!!!

After everything is set up and you receive your first fill with Optum Home Delivery, call the pharmacy number on the back of your CDPHP  ID card, 1-888-292-6330, and set up automatic delivery. 


If you have any questions please email me or reach out to our office (518) 828-4086.

NYS ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF STATEWIDE WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT HOTLINE

Earlier this year Governor Hochul signed into law that a toll-free confidential hotline will be created for complaints of workplace sexual harassment. In addition to reporting incidents to your Department Head and/or Human Resources employees may use the confidential hotline established by NYS. As of today, the toll-free confidential hotline is in operation and details are provided in the attachment.


We will revise the language in the County's Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Poilcy to be in accordance with the new laws, and all County employees will be trained on the udpates during our next training cycle of 2022.

Workplace Sexual Harassment Hotline Notification.pdf

Columbia County Participates in the NYS HELP Program starting June 26, 2023

On June 26, 2023, Columbia County's resolution request to participate in the Hiring Emergency Limited Placement (HELP) Program was approved by NYS Civil Service. This 12 month program will allow departments to hire qualified candidates without taking a Civil Service exam in approved titles.

Titles must meet the following criteria:

Criteria 1: Titles are deemed to be critical, direct care, health and safety titles. Employees serving in these titles provide services or care directly to clients, consumers, patients, or the public.

Criteria 2: A severe shortage of candidates exists, evidenced by an inability to attract sufficient qualified candidates to fill vacancies despite extensive and exhaustive recruitment efforts.

Criteria 3: Titles are filled via open-competitive examination only.

The ultimate goal is to attract qualified candidates and speed up the hiring process for those approved titles.

Columbia County will be requesting to add additional titles to the HELP Program in the coming months as all requests must be made by December 31, 2023.

For a complete list of titles, go to https://www.columbiacountyny.com/cs-news--announcements.html

All questions should be directed to the Columbia County Civil Service office 518-828-6622

Do you know about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program?
To qualify for PSLF, you must:

To ensure you’re on the right track, you should submit a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) & Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Certification & Application (PSLF Form) annually or when you change employers. They will use the information you provide on the form to let you know if you are making qualifying PSLF payments. This will help you determine if you’re on the right track as early as possible.

*This provision will be waived through October 31, 2022 as part of the limited PSLF waiver. Learn more.

For complete information on this program and to apply, go to https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-employment