Mayor presses on with fight to migrate retirees to private Medicare plan

December 23, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

CITY HALL — EVEN WITH THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT siding with NYC municipal retirees to protect their traditional Medicare plan, Mayor Eric Adams is not giving up on his plan to migrate more than 250,000 members and their families to a private Medicare Advantage plan, a city spokesperson told Gothamist on Monday. The city estimates that shifting more than 250,000 municipal retirees and their families from traditional federal Medicare to the private Advantage plan would save around $600 million annually and asserts doing so would help offset the cost of healthcare for current employees. However, the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees’ president, Marianne Pizzitola has tenaciously fought the move on the grounds that the Advantage plan costs members more money, offers less coverage and denies claims, and has won several court battles. The latest victory came from the NY State Court of Appeals, which last week unanimously ruled that local law requires the city to pay the full cost of any health plan it offers the retirees, up to a statutory cap, barring the city from requiring retirees pay more to keep their existing coverage. That Court posted its decision on its website on Monday.

City & State reports that two lawsuits remain: city retirees as plaintiffs seeking to recover millions of dollars in copays; and a challenge to the Adams administration’s plan to narrow retirees’ health care options.