Grand Street Democrats supports NYC Bill 1096-2024, which will protect the vested health insurance and contributions of retired employees of the City of New York.
In 2021, New York City announced that it would stop paying for Medicare supplemental insurance for all retired municipal employees, including teachers, sanitation workers, police officers, and firefighters.
In place of getting direct payments through Medicare, retirees would instead be enrolled in a private insurance plan called Medicare Advantage. Unlike Medicare supplemental insurance, Medicare Advantage plans limit access to certain doctors, regularly deny coverage for recommended care, and feature rising deductibles that retirees would have to pay out of pocket.
In response, municipal retirees banded together and sued the City to protect their right to maintain the quality of healthcare they had been promised over decades of contractual negotiations.
Retirees have won those lawsuits, over and over again, including ten favorable State Supreme Court decisions and two unanimous Appeals Court decisions in the State of New York.
Nevertheless, the City of New York under Mayor Eric Adams persists in its plan to force retired city workers off of Medicare and onto privately-managed Medicare Advantage plans.
Over the past 40 years, municipal employees have frequently accepted lower salaries in difficult contract negotiations in exchange for the promise of security in retirement through pensions and health insurance.
Reneging on that promise now is a breach of contract. If enacted, Bill 1096-2024 would commit the City to honor its obligations to retirees and continue to give them the option of Medicare supplemental insurance.
Grand Street Democrats urges all elected officials to publicly support this proposed legislation in order to maintain municipal retirees’ promised health insurance options, consistent with contractual and statutory obligations.
Resolution adopted March 5, 2025
