The Court of Appeals has rejected Mayor Eric Adams’ appeal to move city retirees into a privately managed health care plan
Brad Lander (Credit: Comptroller’s Office)
The December 17 decision marks a huge victory for the PSC leadership and PSC retiree chapter, which has fought against moving city retirees away from traditional Medicare and into a privately managed plan that could increase wait times and deny service. The plan had been agreed upon by City Hall and the Municipal Labor Committee, a coalition of unions that bargains over city health benefits (the PSC had joined a minority of affiliate unions in voting against this plan).
RETIREES WIN
The plan was also opposed by many elected officials, including the city’s top fiduciary, Comptroller Brad Lander, who said that the “ruling is the final win for the 250,000 some retirees fighting to keep the health care they worked for and were promised! Seniors will continue to have access to all providers who accept Medicare, a victory for our public sector retirees.”
He added, “The City’s Medicare Advantage plan would have constrained our retirees to a smaller network with more restrictive requirements on care. Many public servants entered the municipal workforce with the promise of middle-class wages, pensions, and a retirement plan. The shift to anything less than that full promise was a hard pill to swallow.”
Nancy Romer, a retiree officer on the PSC executive council, said, “This ruling proves that political struggle with a broad group of allies can beat the constant drumbeat of privatization and decline in the benefits and living conditions of workers. Together, with hundreds of retirees from most of the city unions, we PSC retirees had the backing of our leadership and staff to join in the successful campaign to keep our publicly funded Medicare and Senior Care.
Bonnie Nelson, vice chair of the PSC retiree chapter, hailed the ruling, adding, “the attempt to force NYC retirees into an inferior Medicare Advantage plan was legally wrong—and just plain mean.”
Published: December 20, 2024
