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Politico: Momentum builds against Medicare Advantage
Retired municipal workers are ramping up pressure on city lawmakers to back legislation that would allow them to choose their health insurance instead of switching to a Medicare Advantage plan the Adams administration hopes to implement this fall.
Retired municipal workers are ramping up pressure on city lawmakers to back legislation that would allow them to choose their health insurance instead of switching to a Medicare Advantage plan the Adams administration hopes to implement this fall.
The pressure campaign follows a recent legal victory that temporarily paused the switch. The administration is exploring an appeal.
“I think the judge’s decision was direct enough that it should move any City Council person that’s just sitting on the sidelines,” said Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, in an interview.
Close to 200 former municipal workers, including Pizzitola, rallied near City Hall Thursday.
The event brought together two members who are often at opposite ends of issues – socialist Charles Barron, who introduced the bill last month, and his Republican colleague Ari Kagan.
The legislation — which would amend the administrative code to maintain health insurance choice for retirees —has 14 sponsors, including Kagan.
That’s still far short of the majority needed to pass, but momentum is building.
Council Members Robert Holden, a moderate Democrat, and Erik Bottcher, a more liberal Democrat, signed onto the bill recently. Council Member Gale Brewer also said she’ll back it. Council Members Sandy Nurse and Oswald Feliz said they need to review the court ruling.
Jake Gardener, counsel to the retirees, said: “We’ve been fighting our own battles for two years and we’ve been successful so it would be great if the City Council stepped up.”
Council Member Joe Borelli — co-chair of the Council’s Common Sense Caucus that includes Republicans and moderate Democrats, filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit. But Borelli said members should wait for the court to issue a final ruling before making a decision on the bill.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has said she doesn’t want to “unilaterally intervene in a process that intersects with collective bargaining.” A Council spokesperson declined to comment.
Barron insisted the bill will not hurt collective bargaining.
“Now that this judge ruled in our favor, hopefully…they can follow the same path as the judge,” he said in an interview about council members’ potential support.
District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal union, and the city’s teachers union, oppose the bill.
Dick Riley, a UFT spokesperson, said the union believes the Medicare Advantage plan “offers the best chance to maintain high-quality, premium free health care for our retirees.”
Jonah Allon, a City Hall spokesperson, said the bill would interfere with the collective bargaining process. He said the Medicare Advantage plan improves upon retirees’ current options.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2023/07/14/city-retirees-push-council-v-medicare-advantage-00106326