I'm just leaving to attend this event today. Here is a photo from last week:
COUNCIL MEMBER CHRISTOPHER MARTE, NYC RETIREES TO RALLY FOR LEGISLATION PROTECTING RETIREE HEALTHCARE
Marte to Reintroduce Legislation Protecting Municipal Retirees from
Medicare Advantage, Increased Healthcare Costs and Reduced Access to
Care
Who: Council Member Christopher
Marte, New York City municipal retirees, Retiree healthcare advocates,
Elected officials and supporters
What: Rally to Protect NYC Retiree Healthcare and Reintroduction of Retiree Healthcare Legislation
When: Thursday, August 13, 2026, 9:30 AM
Where: Broadway and Murray Street
New York, NY — On Thursday, August 13 at 9:30 AM,
New York City Council Member Christopher Marte will join retired
municipal workers and advocates at Broadway and Murray Street to rally
for permanent protections
for the healthcare benefits earned by New York City retirees.
Following the rally, Council Member Marte will formally reintroduce
legislation at the City Council’s Stated Meeting to prevent the City
from diminishing healthcare coverage for Medicare-eligible municipal
retirees and their dependents.
While the City has stepped away from its previous effort to move
retirees onto Medicare Advantage, retirees remain in limbo and
vulnerable to future attempts to privatize their healthcare, restrict
their choice of doctors, or impose new copays and other out-of-pocket
costs. The legislation would ensure that the City cannot reduce
retirees’ healthcare access or contributions below the protections they
had as of December 31, 2021. (The next day, the City imposed copays for
the first time in 60 years that have amounted to
a car payment to many, preventing them from accessing life-saving care
or putting them in debt.)
For decades, New York City retirees have relied on healthcare benefits
they earned through years of public service. The legislation seeks to
ensure that a future administration cannot unilaterally force them into a
privatized Medicare plan with limited provider
networks or increase the costs retirees must pay to access care.
"Retirees are no longer in unions, although they used to protect us.
The Administrative Code states, 'The City will pay the full cost of
health coverage up to the HiP HMO for every employee, retiree, and their
dependent.' Our Senior Care plan only covers
the 20% of our bills Medicare doesn't, and it is well under the HiP
HMO. There was no reason to impose cost transfer on retirees. We MUST
fix this injustice and never force retirees into Medicare Advantage,"
said Marianne Pizzitola, President of the NYC
Organization of Public Service Retirees. "We have this law because
Mayor John Lindsay passed it when Medicare was created so he could give
it to City workers. We kept our promise; the City must keep its
promise."
The legislation also explicitly protects collective bargaining rights.
Nothing in the bill limits employee organizations from negotiating the
terms and conditions of employment, including future retirement
benefits, for the active employees they represent.
Retiree healthcare protections have historically been established
through City law, and protecting benefits for people who are already
retired does not interfere with collective bargaining agreements
covering current workers.
The rally will call on the City Council to act while it has the
opportunity to provide retirees with long-term certainty and prevent
another attempt to place their healthcare at risk.
###
Media Contact:
Deb Schonfeld
(310)985-4902
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