Published: June 23, 2023
Throughout the past two years, the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees has been fighting to have 250,000 retirees retain Senior Care, their Medicare Supplemental plan. This had always been promised as one of the choices offered to them in their retirement.Three lawsuits have already been filed against the city to retain the above program, and all have been won under Justice Lyle Frank’s rulings.
Mayor Adams and the Municipal Labor Committee have now found a new way to force New York City retirees into accepting the Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan—eliminating all other choices of health plans! Retirees must either select Aetna-managed Medicare Advantage as their healthcare or will be forced to waive their city benefits and forgo their Medicare B premium reimbursement just to stay on traditional Medicare. They will then have to purchase a plan on the open marketplace, therefore forcing the organization to go into litigation against the city once again.
On June 8, City Comptroller Brad Lander declined to register the Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan. He stated, “As a matter of public policy, beyond the scope of our office’s specific Charter responsibility for contract registration, I am seriously concerned about the privatization of Medicare plans, overbilling by insurance companies, and barriers to the care under the Medicare Advantage.” He continued to state “Recent investigations identified extensive allegations of fraud, abuse, overbilling, and denials of medically necessary care at nine of the top ten Medicare Advantage plans, including CVS Health, which owns Aetna”.
A new bill is slated to be introduced on June 22nd at the next City Council meeting by Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron. This introduction was delayed from the previous meeting due to NYC’s poor air quality. This legislation will add a clause to the current Administrative Code section 12-126 that governs health insurance for city workers and retirees.
Marianne Pizzitola, President of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, had expressed her gratitude to Lander and stated that “he noted in his statement, just like we argued in our lawsuit, that people that are forced into this plan will suffer serious issues.”
The organization will hold another rally at City Hall on June 22 to demand their access to traditional Medicare with a supplemental plan, as they were promised.
The City Health Program was born in choice, and NYC Municipal Retirees always had that choice, not their former unions making that choice for them by stripping away all health plans.About 92% of NYC retirees choose Senior Care over Medicare Advantage plans that the city currently offers, and that in itself speaks volumes!
Comments