Effective Jan. 1, psychiatric services received at Cayuga Medical Center are considered out-of-network for Empire Plan participants. The Empire Plan is one of the health care plans offered to Cornell's contract college staff and faculty. Medical care and substance abuse treatment services received at Cayuga Medical Center are still considered in-network under the Empire Plan.

Mental health services are reimbursed out-of-network in the following way:

90 percent of billed charges are covered by the plan after a $363 deductible; 100 percent after the $1,000 coinsurance maximum per enrollee is met.

Note: The $363 non-network mental health deductible and $1,000 out-of-pocket maximum do not count toward meeting the Basic Medical deductible or Basic Medical coinsurance maximum of Empire's regular (non-mental health care) medical health care coverage.

Remember, whenever you seek care from a provider who is out-of-network, you must call the Empire Plan at 1-877-769-7447 and choose OptumHealth before seeking treatment to obtain pre-admission certification. For an emergency or urgent admission, you or your designee must call within 48 hours or as soon as reasonably possible.

If you do not call to obtain pre-admission certification, a $200 in-patient penalty will be applied, if it is determined your hospitalization is medically necessary.

Substance abuse care and medical health care at Cayuga Medical Center continue to be covered on an in-network basis for Empire Plan participants. The reimbursement is as follows:

No deductible or out-of-pocket maximum applies for in-network care.

100 percent of medical care and substance abuse care is covered after a $60copayment per visit. The copayment is waived if you are admitted to the hospital as an inpatient directly from the hospital emergency room.

Pre-admission certification is required within 48 hours after an emergency or urgent hospital admission. If you do not call, a $200 inpatient penalty will be applied, if it is determined your hospitalization is medically necessary.

If you have questions regarding participating providers, call the Empire Plan at 1-877-769-7447 and listen to the prompts. You may wish to contact Cayuga Medical Center at 607-274-4400 to discuss payment options.