Updates

EMAIL AND CALL THE MAYOR NOW TO PROTECT RETIREE HEALTH CARE!  As soon as the proposed Aetna contract was posted on March 10th, the PSC reviewed it, and discovered details that we believe were not disclosed when it was under consideration by the MLC. The proposed Aetna contract allows the City to continue to offer supplemental Medicare coverage such as Senior Care at no cost to retirees. Contrary to what the public and perhaps the Council were led to believe, Aetna does not require that Senior Care be eliminated or offered only at full cost.

If it so chooses, the City, as specified in the Aetna contract, has the option to offer premium-free Senior Care for those who want to opt out of the default Aetna plan.  This is so-called OPTION C under the Aetna contract.  But the mayor only has until April 1 to choose it.  Write the mayor – and then follow-up with a phone call.  Tell the him  to exercise OPTION C!   Click HERE to find out how do this in a few easy steps..

“NYC RETIREES SPEAK OUT ABOUT HEALTH CARE CHANGES” — 3/23 BRIAN LEHRER SHOW:  Listen to the audio here.  Check out Jen Gaboury from the PSC at the 21:30 mark

NYC OFFICE OF LABOR RELATIONS HOLDS HEARING ON CONTRACT WITH AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE, 10  AM, TUESDAY, MARCH 21.  

Over the course of several hours, every speaker at the hearing opposed the Aetna Medicare Advantage contract.  Every speaker was a retiree, with one exception, James Davis, who was the only union leader to testify.  Davis’s testimony, which raises important issues about the Aetna plan, can be read here.  We will also post a link to a recording of the hearing once it is made available.

Links to a “DRAFT” of the full contract are available on the OLR website at the bottom of the ‘public hearings page,”

Here are some talking points that PSC members made at the hearing.

MARCH 16 LETTER FROM JAMES DAVIS ON MOVING RETIREES TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND ELIMINATING PREMIUM-FREE NYC SENIOR CARE — and why the PSC continues to push back on these issues.  Click HERE to read the letter.

UNDER TERMS OF THE AETNA CONTRACT, THE CITY HAS UNTIL APRIL 1 TO NOTIFY AETNA IF IT PLANS TO CONTINUE SENIOR CARE OR ANY OTHER SUPPLEMENTAL COVERAGE FREE OF CHARGE

In a letter to City Council members, the PSC wrote:

“New information has come to light about the proposed Aetna Medicare Advantage contract with the City, which is now available on the OLR website.

The PSC has reviewed the contract and believes it contains information that was not disclosed when the contract was under consideration by the MLC.

The proposed Aetna contract allows the City to continue to offer supplemental Medicare coverage such as Senior Care at no cost to retirees. Contrary to what the public and perhaps the Council were led to believe, Aetna does not require that Senior Care be eliminated or offered only at full cost.

The contract was posted on March 10 and will be available for public inspection until March 21. It was not available when the Municipal Labor Committee voted to support it on March 9. We offer this update to alert Councilmembers to the information and to ask you to contact the Mayor in support of the City continuing to offer no-cost supplemental Medicare coverage to retirees, as it has for decades.

Under the terms of the contract, the City has until April 1 to notify Aetna if it plans to continue Senior Care or other supplemental coverage free of charge. Notifying Aetna by April 1 would enable retirees to opt out of Aetna MA effective September 1. Given the importance many City Councilmembers placed on “choice” in their public statements about retiree health care, we believe that Councilmembers may want to focus on this provision of the contract.”

The clock is ticking. By April 1, we need to convince the City to preserve Senior Care.  Watch these pages for information on how we mobilize to do this.

MARCH 9, 2023 — PSC VOTED “NO” ON THE CONTRACT FOR THE NEW MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN:  The Municipal Labor Committee voted on Thursday, March 9 to approve a contract with Aetna for a Medicare Advantage plan and to remove premium-free NYC Senior Care as an option for retirees.  The PSC voted “NO”  together with 25 other unions.  Click here to fnd out why.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE SWITCH TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND TO PRESERVE PREMIUM-FREE NYC SENIOR CARE.  WRITE/CALL NYC COUNCIL MEMBERS URGING THEM TO SIGN-ON TO THE LETTER TO THE MAYOR.  The PSC Retiree Chapter is mobilizing its members to enlist their NYC Council Members to sign the letter to Mayor Adams.  In-service members (future retirees) should join this action.  Click here to read more.

VIDEOS OF SEPTEMBER 2022 – MARCH 2023  RETIREE CHAPTER UPDATES ON HEALTHCARE: There were updates in the second part of chapter meetings on 9/12/22, 10/3/22, 11/7/22, 12/5/22, 1/23/23, 2/6/23 and 3/6/23.

• Here is a link to a video of the 9/12  chapter meeting.  The discussion of reitiree healthcare begins at the one hour six minute mark of the video.
• HERE is a link to a video of the 10/3 chapter meeting.  The second part of the meeting, on retiree healthcare, begins at the one hour fifteen minute mark of the video.
• HERE is a link to a video of the 11/7 chapter meeting.  The second part of the meeting, on retiree healthcare, begins at the one hour twenty-nine minute mark of the video.
• HERE is a link to a video of the 12/5 chapter meeting with retiree healthcare beginning at the one hour nine minute mark.
• HERE is a link to a video of  the 1/23/23 special Retiree Chapter meeting on retiree healthcare.
• HERE is a link to a video of  the 2/6/23 Retiree Chapter meeting with retiree healthcare beginning at the one hour fifty-seven minute mark.
• HERE is a link to a video of  the 3/6/23 Retiree Chapter meeting with retiree healthcare beginning at the one hour seventeen minute mark.

JANUARY 31, 2023: “With deadline passed, Medicare amendment appears doomed.  But PSC union’s ‘third way’ proposal has some traction.”  This is a headline from The Chief.  Click here to read the story.

JANUARY 2023: PSC CITY COUNCIL TESTIMONY.  The City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor held a hearing on January 9th on a proposed NYC Administrative Code change that would clear the path for the City to implement a Medicare Advantage plan and begin charging retirees a premium to opt out.  PSC leadership and scores of PSC members testified in opposition to the change.  Read their testimony HERE.

The entire 1/9/23 City Council hearing is available HERE with testimony by James Davis and a PSC panel beginning at the 5:48:15 timestamp.  The committee never voted to send the proposed amendment to the full City Council.  At t his point, the proposed amendment appears to be a non-starter.

JANUARY 23, 2023: LATEST ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO RETIREE HEALTHCARE.  Click here for a video of  the 1/23/23 special Retiree Chapter meeting on the latest developments on the continuing saga of the push to move retiree healthcare insurance fro traditional Medicare to Medicare Avantage.

JANUARY 11, 2023: JUDGE ISSUES INJUNCTION BARRING CITY FROM CHARGING $15 CO-PAYS FOR NYC SENIOR CARE.  In a suit brought by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, Judge Lyle Frank, on Wednesday, January 11, issued a preliminary injunction stopping the Adams adminisration from charging $15 co-pays for Senior Care.  Click HERE for more details in this NY Daily News story.

DECEMBER 2022:  PSC PROPOSES AN ALTERNATIVE PATH FOR NYC HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM IN RESPONSE TO ARBITRATOR’S DECISION AND PROPOSED NYC COUNCIL HEARINGS ON CHANGING THE CITY’S ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.  Click HERE to read the PSC’s analysis and proposal.

Share the PSC proposal with your City Council representative and urge Council members to vote “NO” on changing the adminisrative code.

DECEMBER 15, 2022:  ARBITRATOR CALLS FOR NEGOTIATIONS ON MEDICARE ADVANTAGE TO BE COMPLETED BY JANUARY 9 AND IMPLEMENTED BY JULY 1.  On December 15, an arbitrator issued a decision ordering the City to complete negotiations with Aetna Insurance on a Medicare Advantage plan by January 9th  and calling on the Municipal Labor Committee to vote on the plan immediately thereafter, with July 1 target for the MA plan to go into effect as possibly the only healthcare option for municipal reiirees.  Here is an article (NY Focus/The City) on the decision and here is the arbitrator’s ruling.

The Davis Letter.  On Thursday, December 22, James Davis, President of the PSC sent a letter to members:

• Explaining the implications of the arbitrator’s decision for all PSC membera — retirees and in-service.
• Warning that such a path suggests a “classic anti-labor maneuver to pit in-service members against retirees.”
• Calling for an alternative path to the healthcare dilemna faced by NYC and the MLC.Click here to read his letter.

NOVEMBER 22, 2022:  APPELLATE DIVISION OF NYS SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS JUDGE FRANK’S DECISION.  Appeals court unanimously upholds decision keeping NYC Senior Care premium-free.  A state appeals court on 11/22/22 unanimously upheld the decision of a lower court (Judge Lyle Frank) that prohibits NYC from charging a premium to municipal retirees for NYC Senior Care.  For more detail, click here.  A PDF of the decision can be read here.

SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2022: PSC OPPOSES WEAKENING NYC HEALTH INSURANCE PROTECTIONS.  Proposed changes in NYC administrative code threaten retiree healthcare and, in the longer term, potentially in-service members.  Read James Davis’ 9/9/22 message and 11/7/22 update to PSC members about these proposed changes.

You may also find this primer, written by a Retiree Chapter Executive Committee member, useful in breaking down the legal complexities of the proposed adminstrative code — and its implications for all union members.

SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER 2023:  WHAT YOU CAN DO TO OPPOSE THE CHANGE TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE:  This is what we were asking members to do  in September through December.

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Published: March 3, 2022 | Last Modified: July 25, 2022