What’s Happening to Our Healthcare?

New York City and Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) negotiators have proposed a replacement for the Emblem (GHI) – Anthem (Blue Cross) health benefits plan that currently covers medical and hospital services for about 70% of CUNY active employees (full-time and insured adjuncts and part-timers) and pre-65 retirees and their dependents. The MLC is the coalition of public-sector unions that negotiates healthcare with the City. Called the New York City Employees PPO, the new plan would be administered by Emblem and United Healthcare. It is slated to begin January 1, 2026, if it is approved by the MLC.

If the proposed plan is implemented, employees enrolled in other health insurance plans offered by the City (e.g. HIP HMO plan) and retirees 65 and older on Medicare will not be affected. Prescription drug coverage, dental, glasses and hearing aids, and other supplementary health benefits provided by the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund will not change. Like the current Emblem (GHI) plan, the NYCEPPO will be premium-free. Additional information about networks and copays, maximum in-network out-of-pocket costs, and more, are posted here on the PSC website, along with a new PSC summary, a chart from the MLC comparing the proposed plan and the current plan, and a form where PSC members can submit questions. We don’t have all the details yet. As we get answers to broadly applicable questions, we will post them on the website in an FAQs section. An Open Enrollment period from November 1-30 will allow PSC members to change insurance plans as needed.

Bottom line from the PSC Summary: Current plan participants are likely to see little change in their coverage if the new plan is approved at least for 2026, the first year of the five-year contract. In most instances, participants will be able to access the same providers they currently see and will not experience a significant increase in costs, if any. However, without being able to review the financial elements of the plan, including the City’s exact cost-reduction targets, we cannot know whether the City will seek to change the plan design after 2026. For that reason, the PSC Delegate Assembly voted that the union refrain from supporting the proposed plan at the September 30 MLC vote. What we will support, however, is ongoing member education so that current participants can make an informed decision during the Open Enrollment period.

This video from a union-wide zoom forum and Q&A session on the proposed plan provides details and analysis.

Register here for one or more Zohran Mamdani for Mayor phone banks being held every Wednesday until Election Day at the PSC Office (25 Broadway, 15th Floor). The next will be September 24th from 6-8 PM.

The union’s Delegate Assembly voted unanimously on Thursday, September 18, to authorize the establishment of a PSC Chapter to represent faculty at the CUNY School of Law. To date, faculty at the law school have been members of the Queens College chapter. Congratulations to the PSC members at CUNY Law on taking this important step toward formalizing a chapter.

The AFT and the American Association of University Professors, the PSC’s two most influential national affiliates, have launched a major national campaign to protect higher education from political and economic attacks. The campaign, uniting AFT and AAUP’s 400,0000 members, kicked off on Thursday, September 18th, with a news conference, a digital and TV ad buy, and a lobby day on Capitol Hill. It will run through the 2026 midterm elections. Read more about the campaign launch here, click here for a video of the press conference, and watch the new ad below.

The union’s Defending Research Funding Working Group, which organized an open letter, a series of op-eds, and a press conference outside the Trump’s Wall Street building in the spring and summer, will meet next Friday to plan for the coming months. All PSC members are welcome to attend and get involved. Register here for the Zoom meeting link.

Homeland Security and NYPD officers arrested more than 70 elected officials, everyday New Yorkers, advocates, and faith leaders on Thursday, September 18th, both inside and outside of 26 Federal Plaza, where ICE has cruelly detained immigrant New Yorkers attending their scheduled hearings. PSC Secretary Andrea Vásquez, representing the PSC, was among those arrested.

Inside, the arrestees were attempting to conduct oversight of the 10th floor, where people detained by ICE have been held in overcrowded, unsafe conditions. Outside, protesters were arrested for blocking ICE vans to prevent the transfer of kidnapped immigrants to detention centers. Read more about the action here in the New York Times and check out the PSC’s Instagram for more images and video.

Those arrested at 26 Federal Plaza have three demands:

• For Federal Gov’t: Get ICE out of New York and release all immigrants detained at 26 Federal Plaza
• For State Gov’t: Call lawmakers back to Albany to pass New York for All
• For City Gov’t: Pass the NYC Trust Act to prevent New York City agencies from collaborating with ICE
• No federal troops in New York City

You can amplify these demands by showing up for immigrant communities and all of us at the New Yorkers Against ICE protest on September 25th at Foley Square at 6PM.

PSC members who have gone through the union’s court watch training are welcome to join the Immigrant Solidarity Working Group to bear witness and support immigrants called to the courts at 26 Federal Plaza. We meet Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 AM sharp in Thomas Paine Park, at the northern end of Foley Square. The next training for members is on Tuesday, Oct. 7th 6:30 PM sharp – register here.

RSVP Here

Make a plan now to join the PSC, a growing number of other unions, and community groups to protest ICE’s abuses in the courtrooms and in our communities, resist the deployment of federal troops in our city, and demand state legislation to protect immigrants. The protest will begin at Foley Square at 6:00 PM Thursday, September 25th. Click here to tell us we can count on you to be there.

Since the early 1990s, Customs and Border Protection has admitted students (F visa status) and exchange visitors (J visa status) for a period known as “Duration of Status” and has allowed them to stay in the country as long as they are making normal progress towards completing their academic or research objectives. Now, the Trump Administration has proposed a rule to eliminate the Duration of Status for international students and replace it with a system that admits international students to a stay no longer than four years.

The required public comment period ends September 29th. Please comment today opposing the change and explain how the proposed rule would harm our students and universities. It would:

• Deter international students from seeking higher education at CUNY or in the US at all
• Undermine graduate programs because the median time to complete a Ph.D. for all students in the U.S. is 5.7 years
• Harm our workforce and economy by discouraging talented students who often seek to stay in the U.S. and work legally after their studies are complete

Click this link to comment on the damage that this rule change would inflict!

The PSC’s Environmental Justice Working Group and Legislative Committee are partnering with NYPIRG and other student and community partners for a powerful series of community conversations on increasing civic engagement and building a sustainable future in NYC. This year’s events will center around the question of what’s at stake in the upcoming city elections, and feature large-scale voter registration drives. The first town halls will be at Queens College on Monday, September 29th at 12:15 PM and at LaGuardia Community College on Tuesday, September 30th at 10:30 AM. Check the PSC calendar in September and October for a town hall on your campus or at a campus near you.

The PSC’s Teacher Education Working Group invites teacher educators throughout CUNY to participate in our first annual research forum. This year, the day-long program in the PSC Union Hall (25 Broadway, 15th Floor) will focus on making connections between education research and advocating for change during tumultuous times. Coffee, lunch, and afternoon refreshments provided. Register at no cost at PSC-CUNY.ORG/EdResearchForum2025. Download a flier here to share with your colleagues in teacher education.

As the President escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to gain strength. America has No Kings and the power belongs to the people. But we need to keep standing together to defend our rights and freedoms. Millions of us took to the streets in June; millions more will be out on Saturday, October 18.  Meet us at 11am, Duarte Square, 6th Avenue & Canal Street

Make a plan to march with the PSC in the No Kings October Mobilization. Fill out the form at this link to tell us you’ll be there with the PSC.