Proteja los beneficios de salud para jubilados de NYC
The club considered a resolution to support and advocate on behalf of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees by urging the New York City Council to enact legislation to protect medical benefits to NYC retirees and their dependents with benefits equivalent to those available on December 31, 2021.
The resolution was passed unanimously by members present (in-person and virtually) at the meeting.
Resolution introduced by Sue Ellen Dodell and Don Bluestone at the Membership Meeting 1/25/2024
Supporting NYC Municipal Retirees’ Healthcare
Resolution to support and advocate on behalf of NYC Municipal Retirees and urging the New York City Council to enact legislation which will preserve retiree health care choices by mandating the City to provide and pay for at least one Medicare Supplemental plan for Medicare-eligible City retirees and their Medicare-eligible dependents with benefits equivalent to or better than those available to City retirees and their dependents as of December 31, 2021.
Whereas many residents of the Bronx have served the City and are now enjoying the retirement benefits, including healthcare benefits, they earned;
Whereas the issue of healthcare is extremely important and must be protected for the 250,000 NYC retirees who earned and paid for their healthcare;
Whereas the City has paid since 1967 the out-of-pocket cost of GHI Senior Care plan, a Medicare Supplemental plan which the majority of NYC Retirees have chosen;
Whereas Mayor Adams is forcing NYC retirees into a Medicare Advantage Plan (MAP) with no alternative option provided;
Whereas this plan threatens retirees’ access to the level of health care they have received in the past, in that the MAP has limited medical providers and requires preauthorizations that are made – at least in part – based on artificial intelligence, rather than allowing medical decisions to be made on the best judgment of retirees’ medical providers;
Whereas the proposed plan would draw millions of dollars away from traditional Medicare into a privatized MAP;
Whereas the proposed plan sets a harmful precedent for the rest of the nation.
Whereas the NYC Retirees have testified in various forums, including at the January 11, 2023, NYC Council Civil Service and Labor Committee public hearing, that they have been subjected to unconscionable stress due to the City’s attempt to destroy their earned healthcare benefits;
Whereas the City Council has not yet enacted legislation that would protect NYC retirees’ healthcare benefits;
NOW THEREFORE
Be it resolved that the Unity Democratic Club:
Urges its elected officials to publicly support the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees; efforts to enact a local law that maintains the choice of traditional Medicare and a Medicare Supplemental plan provided at the time of City employees’ hiring, and not force retirees into a private, profit-driven healthcare plan; and
Urges our elected officials to uphold the City’s obligations to its retirees, including its obligations set forth in New York Administrative Code §12-126.