New York City has 25 days to settle retirees’ switch to privatized insurance, arbitrator rules
This article was published in partnership with New York Focus.
An arbitrator's ruling Thursday cleared the way for
The move, a long-sought goal under both the Adams and de Blasio administrations, would take the retirees off of their existing Medicare plans, for which
Arbitrator
After the shift,
The savings would go to a cash fund jointly controlled by the city and the unions.
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Retirees have voiced opposition to the switch since New York Focus and THE CITY first revealed the plan in
Angry retirees formed an organization in opposition to the switch, and sued to block it last year, resulting in an
"Unions are supposed to protect retired labor. Sadly those days are over," wrote
In March, a judge ruled that the
By allowing retirees to opt out for free, the March ruling placed the savings that the city hoped to get at risk, so Mayor
The March ruling said that the city could also choose to eliminate Senior Care altogether. Scheinman's decision from Thursday concurred: If the council does not change the charter within 45 days to allow the city to charge for Senior Care, it will be eliminated.
"We are not moving forward unless everybody has the rights and benefits they currently have and additional ones," said
Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
In October, the New York Times found that every year, tens of thousands of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans nationally are denied coverage for needed medical care that traditional Medicare would likely have covered.
Mulgrew said that he's aware of the problems with some Medicare Advantage plans, but he's working to ensure that the plan maintains all the benefits that retirees currently have and covers things that their current insurance doesn't, like transportation to and from some medical appointments, and coverage outside
Pizzitola was less convinced. "If the City seeks to violate Retirees' rights again, Retirees will once again have to seek judicial intervention to protect their healthcare rights," she wrote.
Scheinman ruled that if the city doesn't achieve the desired savings through Medicare Advantage, it will need to seek other sources, such as imposing insurance premiums on active employees, who currently receive premium-free insurance.
Mulgrew said this option is off the table. "I'm never going to impose premiums on active city workers. I've been fighting for eight years to not do that," he said.
The offices of Mayor
In a statement,
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