Municipal retirees sue city over Medicare Advantage switch

Crains New York by Jacqueline Neber

Municipal retirees rallying outside City Hall Wednesday after the lawsuit was filed 

Published: May 31, 2023

Nine individual municipal retirees, along with the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, have filed a class action lawsuit over the city’s move to switch retirees from supplemental health insurance to Medicare Advantage plans.

The suit names as defendants the City of New York, Mayor Eric Adams, the city’s Office of Labor Relations, the Department of Education and other parties.

The suit, filed Wednesday morning in the state Supreme Court, alleges that the city has been trying to “escape” its supposed health care obligation to retirees—paying for their coverage in full—by switching them to Advantage plans. City officials have said the Medicare Advantage switch will save the city hundreds of millions of dollars in premiums annually, but retirees argue those savings could in turn jeopardize their health care and financial security.

Lawsuit documents chronicle the last several years of the Medicare Advantage saga between retirees, the city and unions. The battle seemed to conclude in March, when New York City signed a Medicare Advantage contract with Aetna that would automatically enroll retirees in the plan unless they opted out.

Now, the plaintiffs allege that this development has caused them irreparable injury; one plaintiff said he is considering purchasing a Medigap supplemental plan on the open market but can’t afford the minimum $800 monthly premium. Other plaintiffs allege their doctors won’t accept the Medicare Advantage plan.

“Had he known that the City would renege on its health care promise, he would have made very different financial choices in his life,” the document reads.

Many city retirees have been financially dependent on receiving free health insurance from the city throughout their retirement, the court filing reads. Now, it says, the insurance they can opt into is inferior to their existing supplemental plans.

According to the documents, the city has promised retirees for the last 50 years that it would provide and pay for a choice of Medicare supplemental insurance, such as the Senior Care plan that currently covers about 180,000 retirees. The suit argues that the city has not followed the requirements of the New York City Administrative Procedure Act, has violated retirees’ rights under the state constitution and common law, and has “engaged in an unjust bait and switch.”