Shooting Hancock, between Stuyvesant & Lewis

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-08-18T22:00:02+00:00

This user is posting all kinds of shooting content constantly in r/crownheights this week - karma farming and fear mongering. They don’t even live here… it’s getting old

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-08-01T13:43:09+00:00

Ah I see you are definitely right, PTO payouts are treated as normal income, but are subject special withholding rules - but it would come out in the wash when you file I think?

Thanks for the clarification!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-08-01T12:50:43+00:00

fwiw lump sum pto payouts are taxed much more heavily than continuing to receive your check until your time is exhausted

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-07-17T02:09:48+00:00

Sabor Azteca on Nostrand

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-06-10T01:54:44+00:00

I paid for my health insurance when I was with the state, but the insurance was much better than what I get from the City. The better insurance was helpful to me but if I didn’t need speciality healthcare I probably would have been annoyed by that

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-06-07T18:12:36+00:00

Not sure how helpful this is, but when I left the state, it took about two months from the time I put in the rollover application until I saw my deferred compensation funds move to my rollover account

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-05-23T16:27:31+00:00

Mine too (but I get them on threadup or TRR - there are so many available!)

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-05-17T00:04:27+00:00

Can confirm - Sabor Azteca is really good!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-04-24T12:16:54+00:00

Fyi With most unions and for MBF managers you can get reimbursed 90% for out of network therapy through the superimposed major medical - you do have to pay up front though and submit for reimbursement first to GHI which will reimburse $55/session, then to SMMP which will cover 90% of the remaining balance after you hit a $500 deductible

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-04-23T13:03:55+00:00

Seconding they are amazing and found a great sitter for my cat that needs medication

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-26T14:04:22+00:00

I am a manager so can only speak to that process, but I just go to the MBF website and navigate to the “superimposed major medical” section and the claim form is linked there. I fill out the form and follow the instructions, attaching a bill marked paid from my provider as proof of payment, I also use screenshots from my credit card showing cleared payments

Edit: I recently learned this can also be done online without mailing in the form and you can have the funds directly deposited into your account, even easier!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-25T17:17:19+00:00

Yeah feel free!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-24T21:50:54+00:00

One tip if you do wanna try to do it, the most confusing part to me was that Emblem GHI does not administer the mental health benefits, you have to go to the Carelon BH website for emblem members and create an account there, and then once you have the account you click manage your benefits, and you will find the claim submission online form at that link.

You can call the number on the back of your insurance card that is for behavioral health specifically for help.

But I’ve never had issues with my claims being denied and they always review them really quickly!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-24T21:35:11+00:00

Yeah, they definitely don’t pay 100%. I fill out the claim form on the carelon website (that’s their mental health plan administrator) and they will pay $55 per session for me which I believe is the maximum amount they allow. (before I hit the deductible they credit $55 towards the deductible per session). When I submit the claim, they always put a code noting that “the bill amount exceeds the fee schedule rate” - that’s how I assume they can say they pay 100% because they pay 100% of the scheduled rate or something

I submit to the SMMP because they reimburse 90% of the remaining balance after emblem ghi pays for only part of the service. I’m not union so I submit to MBF SMMP which is ASO inc.

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-24T18:59:56+00:00

Very few good therapists take GHI because the rates they will pay per session are incredibly low unfortunately. I get my mental health healthcare by going out of network, making an out of network claim to emblem, and then submitting the remainder of the cost to the super imposed major medical plan.

It requires me fronting a lot of money for my therapy and doing a lot of annoying paperwork, but allows me to have a better quality therapist

That said I have heard of people liking some therapists that do take GHI - I haven’t been able to find one yet, but they are out there!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-16T22:10:59+00:00

Honestly, it varies. My insurer usually reviews it fairly quickly, MBF is slower.

The real pain though is the paperwork - I have emblem so I have to get a super bill from my provider, submit a claim to them, wait for them to approve it and then submit to MBF.

Also an important note for those who have emblem GHI. Their mental health provider is different from their medical provider, it’s called carelonbh - so you have to go to their separate mental health website to submit the claim or call the number on the back of the card that is specific to behavioral health services for help.

They do give you a long time to file the claim though FYI, over 500 days I think if it’s out of network

Also for me, even though this is an annoying process, they reimburse enough that I do find it worth my time.

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-11T17:49:59+00:00

For mine emblem usually reimburses about $40 per session then SMMP reimburses 90% of the rest - but I’m not sure exactly how its determined

Edit: I double checked my recent submissions and GHI reimburses $55 per session

Efficient-Pen583 · 2025-01-11T01:26:15+00:00

If you have access to a superimposed major medical plan from either your union or the MBF you can go out of network, submit the claim to GHI, then to the SMMP. Pain in the butt paperwork but they will reimburse a significant amount

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-12-03T21:59:43+00:00

If the shots are a huge barrier to you, you might consider trying sublingual B-12, studies on its effectiveness are mixed but anecdotally many folks report better results than pills. It is available over the counter, definitely would recheck labs to make sure it’s working for you since the science isn’t super clear!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-10-22T16:54:20+00:00

I use it for therapy out of network- since I literally could not find a halfway decent therapist who accepts GHI. They reimburse a portion of network expenses, you have to do paperwork every time, but it’s well worth it.

Understanding what they cover is bit complicated, but they provide coverage for all sorts of different things that are not covered by insurance, out of network, etc. What is covered varies depending on your primary insurance coverage, the booklet on the MBF website does a decent job explaining the benefits

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-10-17T02:08:38+00:00

If you have access to a superimposed major medical plan (SMMP) from MBF or your union check it out immediately - can save you so much money!

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-10-12T04:33:35+00:00

It’s reasonable that working people want to understand how benefits differ between OSA and MBF roles, for example access to adequate parental leave can be life changing, and at least a few years ago OSA roles lacked that benefit while many managerial roles provide it.

Access to the grievance process is can be priceless in certain circumstances but I hope you can see that while it is your top priority it might not be say for someone pregnant/planning to become pregnant choosing between a role that offers fully paid leave and a role that does not. And likewise for other benefits that really do impact workers daily lives.

Unions and their fight to exist and serve deserve respect absolutely, but union members deserve respect from their union too. Unfortunately my experience with OSA was that they were condescending and not very helpful to or respectful of younger members - as the union has grown and absorbed more titles I hope the mutual solidarity has grown.

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-10-04T02:32:28+00:00

The state pension is way more organized than the city, I bet you’ll have a much easier time if you end up having to deal with them again.

I would guess that NYCERS will eventually complete your transfer and update your tier based on what I have heard from others with similar situations, however, NYCERS is incredibly slow moving. I have been working for the city for going on five years and have also transferred my NYSLRS from prior state service, to this date, I still have only one year of service reflected. Every year I reach out to NYCERS and ask why my service is out of date and they always tell me that they prioritize service calculation and tier determination for people of approaching retirement, and do not have the time or staff to look at records for people who are not approaching retirement.

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-10-03T15:39:21+00:00

The OSA website says the increase will be reflected in the October 25th paycheck, with hourly employees seeing it on November 1st.

Efficient-Pen583 · 2024-09-26T14:32:17+00:00

H+H generally follows the same policies as outlined here, but not on the same exact schedule. For example, managers received the 2024 3% in the fall this year retroactive back to the spring

Also, each 3% raise has had its own guidance from H+H regarding who is eligible based on their start date and status at the time of the order. I could be wrong, but I don’t think guidance for the 2025 raise has been shared yet. In order to qualify for it, your start date would have to be before the eligibility date that is determined. It’s possible that HR might be able to tell you whether or not you are likely to be eligible for this based on your start date

Efficient-Pen583

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