Does NYSTRS provide health insurance in retirement?
No. NYSTRS does not provide health insurance to retirees. Questions about your coverage in retirement go to your employer: the school district or BOCES you work for. NYSTRS acts only as an authorized deduction agent for the New York State Health Insurance Program, run by the Department of Civil Service.
That's nearly all the NYSTRS sources say, because the coverage isn't theirs. What they do add is below: one state law that protects coverage a district already gives, how health money is treated in your final average salary, and where deductions show up on your statement.
What the sources add
- NYSTRS does not provide health insurance; ask your employer about retiree health coverage. NYSTRS only deducts New York State Health Insurance Program premiums as an authorized agent.Handbook p. 47
- A state law protects retiree coverage that a district already provides: since June 30, 1994, school districts and BOCES may not cut retirees' health insurance benefits, or what they contribute toward that coverage, below the current level unless they make the same cut for the corresponding group of active employees. The law was made permanent in 2010.Compilation of Laws 2026 p. 19 (Chapter 729 of the Laws of 1994)
- Health insurance money usually doesn't raise your pension: payments in lieu of health insurance, and payments used to buy health insurance through the district, are left out of your final average salary. One exception: Tier 1 members with a membership date before July 1, 1973 can include payments in lieu of health insurance in a five-year FAS.Handbook pp. 26, 27
- Your Retired Member Profile, sent each fall, shows your gross monthly benefit, any deductions, and your net payment. NYSTRS deducts New York State Health Insurance Program premiums only as an authorized agent; the coverage itself comes through your employer.Retired Members' Handbook p. 3; Handbook p. 47
- When a retiree dies, NYSTRS tells the beneficiary to contact the retiree's former employer, which may have provided health insurance, as well as NYSTRS and any union life insurance plan.Retired Members' Handbook p. 18
What to ask your district or BOCES
- Will you have retiree coverage, and is there a minimum number of years at the district, or a minimum age, to keep it?
- What share of the premium will you pay, for yourself and for a spouse or dependents?
- Will premiums come out of your NYSTRS check, or be billed some other way?
- What happens to your spouse's coverage if you die first? (Your payment option and the death benefit are separate NYSTRS questions.)
Questions
Does NYSTRS provide health insurance to retirees?
No. NYSTRS pays your pension; it does not provide health insurance. Retiree health coverage comes from your employer, so questions go to your school district or BOCES.
Can my district cut my retiree health coverage?
Under Chapter 729 of the Laws of 1994 (made permanent in 2010), a school district or BOCES can't cut retirees' health benefits or its contributions below the current level unless it makes the same cut for the matching group of active employees.
Will NYSTRS take premiums out of my pension?
NYSTRS acts only as an authorized deduction agent for the New York State Health Insurance Program. Any deduction appears on your Retired Member Profile.
Related: taxes on your NYSTRS pension and working after retirement.
Source: NYSTRS Active Members' Handbook, Updated October 2026, pp. 26, 27, 47. Also: Compilation of Laws 2026 p. 19; Retired Members' Handbook pp. 3, 18. Last reviewed .