Tuesday Musings: A Film on Medicare, Retired Teacher Chapter Exec Bd, Plus a Drawing Class

Boy I had a busy day on Tuesday, taking an 8:15 AM ferry to get to my drawing class at the Manhattan UFT, followed by an RTC Ex Bd meeting and then off to view "The Power to Heal" sponsored by NYC Retirees with Marianne Pizzitola at the Tribeca Viewing room with some city officials and some fellow retirees.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

 

NOTE: Tomorrow is the ABC Big, Beautiful Mass Meeting, with Over 800 registered so far. ABC retirees will be doing a brief (very brief) presentation. A bunch of us attended the film yesterday.

 

I've been too busy to blog. I'm doing the BBG tour guide training which lasts until the end of March. Saturdays have been tied up and I actually have homework.  So I missed the massive No Kings rallies on Saturday which I hear had 400 people in Rockaway. I joined 40 people in Edgemere on Sunday to canvas for Mamdani. Luckily I was teamed with a young lady I know from the Rockaway Theatre Company who is an experiened DSA canvasser and led me through the process.

 

The RTC Ex bd meeting had a number of interesting elements but I am in a rush as I have to get to MSK for a vaccine shot for Meningitis which I need because I no longer have my spleen. So I will deal with the RTC situation, which I am not happy with, another time and will focus a bit on the film and discussion afterwards.

 

Listen, I have been involved in the fight over Medicare and the attempt to push us into Medicare Advantage, the movie and discussion afterwards made things clearer than every. I can't remember some of the people on the panel and Marianne was on target as usual but they all made so many great points. Medicare is social insurance while Medicare Advantage is corporate for profit insurance, which led me to think back to the Mulgrew arguments that they were the same. Was Mulgrew duplicitous or just plain stupid? You chose.

 

We saw only the sort version of the movie and Marianne will arrange a showing of the full version of The Power to Heal, the essence of which was that many hospitals, especially in the South, either banned or minimized care for Black people and it was the new Medicare program in 1966 that forced them to integrate in order to be eligible for the federal funds. 

I had never made the connection before.

 

It was pointed out in the discussion that Medicare is not an entitlement - we pay for it throughout our working and retirement lives. It is never free and then we have to over for the 20% not covered and while most people have to pay for that, NYC retirees were guaranteed free coverage, which Mulgrew and Co tried to take away.

 

Of course now we face the biggest threat to Medicare from the Trump administration, not that the Dems had no role in promoting the privatized MedAdv programs, which by the way are dropping people who might get older and sicker. Risk pools without younger and healthier people will leave Medicare in an untenable situation and healthcare in this nation will get worse and worser, a reason I know people who are seeking dual citizenship if they can. I have one Japanese friend who travel back to Japan every 3 months for treatments she cannot afford here.

 

It was pointed out that the badly managed MedAdv plans cost many lives through denials of service and nit-picking, often now being done by AI. Under Medicare, doctors make decisions while under MedAdv doctors are second guessed. And MedAdv plans cost the governement a lot more money, especially due to the 15% paperwork charges vs. 3% for Medicare.

We also talked about the NYC Health Act and flaws were pointed out. A retiree said that some younger teachers are yelling at her for fighting for Medicare instead of for the NY Health Act but it was pointed out that out of state retirees would not get the same coverage and since they make up a significant portion of retirees, their being cut out would raise prices.

 

There's a lot more to say about the film and the discussion which went so deep and I didn't get back to my apartment until after 8PM. Keep an eye out for Marianne's notice to post the full film and I hope the political people in the room get fully invested in the battle. 

 

From the website:

ABOUT THE FILM

POWER TO HEAL is an hour-long public television documentary that tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country in a matter of months.  Before Medicare, disparities in access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation's hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.  Using the carrot of Medicare dollars, the federal government virtually ended the practice of racially segregating patients, doctors, medical staffs, blood supplies and linens. POWER TO HEAL illustrates how Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve justice and fairness for African-Americans.   Through the voices of the men and women who experienced disparities and fought against them, POWER TO HEAL will introduce a broad, prime-time national audience on PBS to a missing link in the Civil Rights Movement -- a struggle over healthcare from a half-century ago, that raises questions that resonate today: is healthcare a human right? Must the federal government intervene to ensure equality?

 

Jeff Kaufman on Bentkowski: A Betrayal of Public Trust: Why New York's Retirees Will Ultimately Prevail

Jeff, a former lawyer, lays out a path to victory.

 

Thursday, June 19 

 

A Betrayal of Public Trust: Why New York's Retirees Will Ultimately Prevail

 

The New York Court of Appeals' decision in Bentkowski v. City of New York represents a troubling abdication of judicial responsibility that prioritizes municipal budget constraints over the fundamental promise of good faith that binds employer to employee. While the Court's narrow focus on the technicalities of "clear and unambiguous promises" may have temporarily shielded the City from accountability on promissory estoppel grounds, the decision leaves intact multiple powerful causes of action that virtually guarantee the retirees will ultimately prevail when the case returns to the trial court.

The Court of Appeals committed a fundamental error by applying an artificially restrictive interpretation of what constitutes a "clear and unambiguous promise." The Court dismissed decades of consistent representations in Summary Program Descriptions (SPDs) as merely "descriptive and for informational purposes only," ignoring the basic principle that contractual obligations can arise from a course of conduct and reasonable reliance, not just from formal written agreements.

The Court's parsing of verb tenses—focusing on present tense language like "becomes eligible," "is provided," and "supplements"—represents a triumph of form over substance that would make even the most pedantic grammarian blush. When the City tells employees year after year that Medicare "provides" first-level benefits and the City's program "provides" second-level benefits to "fill certain gaps in Medicare coverage," any reasonable person would understand this as a commitment to continue that structure.

Most egregiously, the Court dismissed the phrase "and thereafter" as referring only to Medicare eligibility timing, not future benefits. This interpretation is not just wrong—it's absurd. The plain language clearly indicates that City benefits would continue "thereafter" once Medicare eligibility begins. To read it otherwise requires willful blindness to the obvious meaning.

Despite the Court's rejection of the promissory estoppel claim, the remand to the trial court preserves numerous causes of action that provide clear pathways to victory. Each represents a distinct legal theory capable of delivering complete relief to the retirees.

The Second Cause of Action under the Retiree Health Insurance Moratorium Act provides a compelling path to victory. This statute explicitly prohibits reducing teacher retiree benefits unless active employees face corresponding reductions. The facts demonstrate a clear violation: the City's contributions dropped from $191.57 per month to $15-22.50 per month for retirees while active employees retained their plan choices and superior coverage. The law was specifically designed to protect retirees who lack collective bargaining power, making this differential treatment precisely what the legislature sought to prevent.

The Ninth Cause of Action under the NYC Administrative Procedure Act (CAPA) addresses the City's deliberate circumvention of required rulemaking procedures. The healthcare policy change constitutes rulemaking that affects a quarter-million retirees and creates binding standards of general applicability. The City's failure to provide public notice and comment procedures violated the procedural rights of every affected retiree and represents a fundamental breach of administrative law that courts cannot overlook.

The Sixth and Seventh Causes of Action under both NYC and New York State Human Rights Laws present powerful discrimination claims. The policy creates a disparate impact on disabled retirees under 65 who are Medicare-eligible due to disability. While non-disabled under-65 retirees keep their existing coverage options, disabled retirees are forced into inferior Medicare Advantage plans. This class-based discrimination against people with disabilities—those most needing healthcare access—violates fundamental civil rights protections and cannot be justified by mere cost savings.

Life-Threatening Consequences Demand Judicial Intervention

The Third Cause of Action challenging the dangerous disruption of life-saving treatment presents compelling grounds for immediate relief. Retirees with cancer and other serious conditions face the impossible choice between continuity of care and financial ruin. Many cannot obtain supplemental coverage due to pre-existing conditions, while others face underwriting barriers that make coverage unaffordable. The policy's arbitrary implementation, without consideration of individual medical circumstances, fails even the most basic rational basis review given its life-threatening impact on vulnerable populations.

The Fourth Cause of Action addresses the City's failure to provide adequate information for such a momentous decision. Major healthcare decisions require accurate, complete information as a matter of procedural due process. The City made material misrepresentations, falsely assuring retirees their doctors would accept the new plan. Many retirees never received comprehensive information packages, while the deliberately complex opt-out process proved especially burdensome for elderly participants. Given the irreversible nature of this one-time decision with permanent consequences, the lack of full disclosure constitutes a fundamental due process violation.

The Eighth Cause of Action for unjust enrichment recognizes that healthcare benefits represent earned deferred compensation, not gratuitous benefits. Mayor Adams himself called this policy a "bait and switch" before taking office, acknowledging its unconscionable nature. The City will reap hundreds of millions in annual savings while benefiting from federal Medicare Advantage subsidies, all while shifting costs to vulnerable retirees after decades of faithful service. Good conscience demands restitution of these ill-gotten savings.

The Eleventh Cause of Action under the Donnelly Act addresses the City's creation of an unlawful monopoly through its exclusive Aetna contract. The City bypassed competitive bidding processes, eliminating competition among insurers and depriving retirees of choice and competitive pricing benefits. Ironically, Aetna previously made similar antitrust arguments against another City plan, demonstrating the anticompetitive nature of such arrangements.

The Tenth Cause of Action recognizes the City's special relationship with its retirees and the fiduciary duty to provide accurate healthcare information. The City's material misstatements about provider acceptance and plan benefits, combined with false assurances about the opt-out process, created reasonable reliance that continues to cause harm. The City knew retirees would rely on these statements for enrollment decisions, making the negligent provision of false information particularly egregious.

Beyond the legal technicalities lies a fundamental question of fairness and public policy. The City of New York recruited employees for decades with the explicit promise of comprehensive health benefits in retirement. These employees—teachers, firefighters, police officers, and countless other public servants—accepted lower wages than they could have earned in the private sector based on the understanding that their retirement security was guaranteed.

Many of these retirees are now in their 70s and 80s, having planned their retirement finances around the expectation of Medicare supplemental coverage. Some have relocated to states where they cannot obtain supplemental coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Others lack the financial resources to purchase private coverage. The City's decision to abandon these vulnerable retirees represents a breathtaking betrayal of the social compact that binds government to its workers.

The Court of Appeals' decision should be understood as a temporary setback rather than a definitive defeat. While the Court's analysis of promissory estoppel was problematic, it leaves intact multiple independent causes of action, each capable of providing complete relief. The trial court's previous sympathy for the retirees' position, combined with the opportunity for more complete factual development, creates a favorable environment for ultimate success.

The remaining causes of action span constitutional law, statutory violations, civil rights protections, antitrust law, and fundamental due process rights. The City cannot simultaneously violate the state constitution, ignore statutory protections, discriminate against disabled individuals, endanger lives, deny due process, engage in antitrust violations, and commit unjust enrichment while expecting judicial protection.

Perhaps most importantly, the moral force of the retirees' position remains undiminished. They kept their part of the bargain, serving the City faithfully for decades in exchange for promised retirement security. The City's attempt to renege on that promise while hiding behind legal technicalities represents exactly the kind of conduct that courts exist to remedy.

When this case returns to the trial court, it will do so with a powerful arsenal of legal theories that survived appellate review. The constitutional claims alone provide sufficient grounds for complete victory, while the statutory violations, civil rights protections, and due process claims offer multiple alternative paths to the same destination.

The trial court proceedings will allow for complete factual development, revealing the full scope of the City's representations and the devastating impact on vulnerable retirees. This expanded record will only strengthen the retirees' position and highlight the unconscionable nature of the City's conduct.

Justice delayed is not justice denied. When this case concludes—as it inevitably will—with vindication for New York's retired public servants, the Court of Appeals' decision will be remembered as a regrettable detour rather than a final destination. The multiple causes of action that remain provide not just hope, but virtual certainty that these retirees will ultimately prevail.

The City of New York made a promise. The remaining legal theories ensure it will be forced to keep it.

 

DA Takeaways: All About Control as Mulgrew talked and talked and talked and talked and... and loads of UFT Staff on the Dole

Did Mulgrew lie at the DA? Marianne has the answer. 

 

Michael Mulgrew - Leaders Should LEAD, not LIE

  

Mulgrew insults retirees by accusing them as using healthcare issues as a campaign issue.  

Sure I don't really care about my medicare. When Mulgrew claims MEDADV is the same as Medicare, just Part C I should buy it.

...it’s presumptuous and offensive of Mulgrew to assume that retirees who are at the DA for the express purpose of saving their healthcare are merely candidates seeking further political office. Absurd. Election season is not a bad way to frame Mulgrew’s own conduct, though, who took out the Unity playbook this DA to use our dues for his own party’s campaigning.... Mulgrew controlled the DA by going so long with the President’s report that it seemed like there would be no further business - Nick's Notes

 

Monday, October 21, 2024

I had the best time at the DA - before and after the meeting. About 70 retirees attended in person and another 100 remote. The meeting itself? Eh. 

For me the best part of the DA Wednesday was seeing so many old pals who were elected in the retiree election.  And hanging out after. A poll of attendees asking for their reaction? "Hearing people name themselves as one of the 300 new/proud Retiree Delegates," was a major response. The enthusiasm in the responses to being a delegate was palpable. If Mulgrew thought he would drive retirees away, it didn't work.

By the way, there is another big meeting coming up tomorrow - the first Retired Teacher Chapter meeting of the year and we control the agenda. Unity is flipping out over the appearance of Marianne and her lawyer to report on the court cases. Mulgrew should show up and engage in a discussion rather than just make charges. If you are a UFT retiree, come on down - but register first. I can promise Bennett Fischer won't talk for an hour 13 minutes.  We gave him about 10-15 minutes.

Arthur was remote:

In the first DA I’ve attended since I stepped down as chapter leader two years ago, Michael Mulgrew spoke for an hour and 12 minutes. When someone objected, he claimed the majority of people wanted this report. However, there was no vote on this report, and no way to know whether or not this was the will of the majority. Mulgrew said so, and clearly believes that should be good enough for anyone.

The first question in the brief question period, ten minutes I think, as opposed to the unlimited time for Mulgrew, was about health care. Mulgrew doubled down on the false narrative that UFT is the only union that opposes the MA plan. He repeated the same lies, established to be absolutely false in court, that he’s been using about the MA program.

----It's the Mike Mulgrew Show!

Arthur Goldstein

At one point in the 1 hour and 13 minute Mulgrew talk, newly elected retiree delegate Lois Weiner called a point of order:

Nick's Notes: After an hour of Mulgrewspeak, newly elected retiree advocate delegate Lois Weiner had had enough and called a point of order asking him to stop, please stop. He ignored her and kept going but you could see she forced him to go faster. Still, he ended around 5:40 when he opened up for questions.

I want whoever runs against Mulgrew to promise a 10-minute limit on president reports. Here's an idea, reverse the agenda and do the business end first and the president report last. Watch the exodus as people vote with their feet. (Mulgrew could also issue his report on video or in writing.) 

His filibuster left little room for the rest of the agenda.

It's all about control. Packing the meeting with paid staff is a control mechanism. As is the Covid excuse cap on attendees? Nahhh. The other day I asked this question:

• UFT Delegate Assembly - Why the 400 In-Person Limit? Hint: It's About Control, not Covid

And of course we saw the answer played out in real time.

 

DA Attendance limits on school-based but not on UFT staff: The place was crawling with them.

In a packed room the answer to the limit was obviously not Covid protocols. Some retirees who showed up were turned away. But I bet no UFT staff was turned away. Entire rows were reserved by some district reps. When there was applause for Mulgrew it came from staff and other Unity acolytes. So, another method of Unity control of the DA is district reps corralling the people in their districts in one area and keeping an eye on how they vote.

Note: the agenda for DA haven't changed from the Shanker days but Shanker had the confidence to allow oppo challenges. Randi, less secure, began to manipulate the DA and Mulgrew, the least confident and most paranoid, has taken things to a new phase of control. 

 

After Pres report comes Staff Director - LeRoy Barr, who is mercifully short. (Not LeRoy, the report.)

 

The 10 minute Question period:

Nick: Chris Balchin, another proud RA delegate asked the healthcare question: Now that you've withdrawn support for MAP and given that courts have found in favor of facts as presented by NYC Retirees. Will you submit amicus brief in support, send resources to UFT, etc.

Chris is super sharp -- he better wear a disguise next time to get called on.

Nick on Mulgrew response which prompted the Marianne video response above.

I said this in the executive board minutes already, but I’ll say it again: Mulgrew appeared deceptive when he claimed that the UFT was the only union officially against MAP (or, probably better described: this most recent MAP negotiation). In fact the Unity-led UFT led the charge for MAP and was one of the principle reasons we were in a financial hole (which we’re still in) that required us to find ways to make healthcare savings. For an article showing a vote in which many unions, but NOT the UFT (i.e. Mulgrew), went against the MAP decision before Unity lost an election, see here. Notice, Mulgrew seemed to defend the original MAP contract in today’s DA, which should make us wonder if it might appear in a new form if/when the City resumes negotiations.

Wait a minute: one of the principle reasons we were in a financial hole (which we’re still in) that required us to find ways to make healthcare savings. 

 

Who required us to side with the city against member so make healthcare savings? YOU - MADE THE DEAL.
Mulgrew tries to escape accountability  - like some god-like entity made that deal.

 

There was another interesting question:

CL from D24: Shortage of paraprofessionals. Is there any plan about the hiring freeze?

Nick tries to decipher the Mulgrew word salad:

Mulgrew: Sorry, sent this out but didn’t report. Yesterday, we sent an official notification to the commissioner, DOE, mayor – under corrective action plan for almost – can’t count COVID – roughly four years. Four years it’s gotten worse, not better. They’ll talk about two things that have gotten better – 1, more of the evaluations, especially for outside referrals, other thing is gonna tout that they’ve started increasing NEST programs. But now have more out of compliance. Not fighting with them.

Mulgrew's meandering no solution response made me want to call out:

Fix Para Pay

I saw one spineless anonymous Unity slug actually ask how the oppo intends to fix para pay? 

How about fuckn contract negotiations, the actual way we fix pay? But Unity slugs no longer think contract negotiations are a way to win anything much, which makes sense when you accept the city claim of not having money. The anti-Unity para vote in the election last spring shows they are not buying the "let's throw up our hands" Unity position.

 

Mulgrew PR Distraction: We are taking the health care fight national, even though we know it will not happen, while we Try to Privatize Retiree Health Locally

Watch what they (Unity) do, not what they say... Norm homily

...he (Mulgrew) favors a system where pieces of our benefits are controlled by industrialists who want to make money off of healthcare. That system most definitely will never be in our interest, and he shouldn’t be spending our dues money trying to shore those plutocrats up.... Under Assault

How will Retiree Advocate and or the RTC officers and exec bd respond to the Mulgrew letter to members? ... Anon.

CVS/Aetna reported $8.34 billion in profit last year, and spent $12,476,000 lobbying against policies like universal healthcare and lower prescription costs.

 

This is the company

@UFT Mulgrew and his caucus want to dump NYC Retirees in. This is why we voted them out. Arthur Goldstein

@TeacherArthurG

 

Melanie D'Arrigo

@DarrigoMelanie

by funding the opposition to universal healthcare and lower prescription costs, they’re bankrupting patients and families at best, denying them care and leaving them to die at worst.

 

Michael Mulgrew got up and said he now opposed the city Medicare Advantage Plan. However, as I wrote him, he’s done absolutely nothing to support our court cases or legislation---- I think Mulgrew is too set in his ways to change course. I think Mulgrew figures well, I said I opposed the Aetna plan, and that should be good enough for anyone. I think the “very smart” Unity hacks who advise him told him that would be enough, and that we would fold.--- Arthur Goldstein

 

Also See his: https://arthurgoldstein.substack.com/p/mulgrews-very-smart-people-blunder?

Marianne mocks Mulgrew and responds (see below) or click: https://youtu.be/hrBGUqLkMlM?si=lHeo3GqobDTQ2PzZ

Sunday, July 28, 2024 - Mulgrew at the AFT - Oh, the outrage

 

Arthur and Melanie hit the target. When Mulgrew and Randi talk about national healthcare they think of MedAdv as controlled by companies like Aetna- how many times did Mulgrew say that MedAdv is just Medicare Part C -- equating a public plan with privatized ones --- and this is in their and the Dem Party plans. How can they ignore that $12 million in lobbying money with their total ties to the interests of the Democratic Party?

 

$168,600

That's the upper salary that people pay into SS. Only the Social Security tax has a wage base limit. The wage base limit is the maximum wage that's subject to the tax for that year.   Let's put the so-called Mulgrew/AFT support for a "protecting" social security on the block. You know how to protect social security? Raise the wage limit to half a million or even a million dollars. I looked through the resolution and it is all generalities -- calls for legislation but Randi and Mulgrew won't be specific because the Dem Party is to afraid to call for raising the wage base limit for fear of Republican attacks. 

 

Seeking fed leg is a joke and distraction

In the photo of Mulgrew making his reso at the AFT check out how bored LeRoy Barr looks. He knows its all bullshit to try to recover Mulgrew's awful rep and counter propaganda to the big Unity loss in the retiree election.  Look at this reso as the opening salvo in the 2025 UFT election. Some of us thought Unity might switch Mulgrew out but that would have already happened. Arthur hit it -- They are doubling down on Mulgrew and assume they can fool enough people all the time. LeRoy read the riot act to staffers that the oppo was coming for their jobs so they better start campaigning now. But it won't work. The Unity cow has left the barn.

 

Read the full resolution

Note how carefully worded it is to avoid specifics and generalize the motion to make it meaningless.

Mulgrew wrote this outrageous letter to members. But I rework it to express what is really going on as a parody.

 

Michael Mulgrew Bogus, PR Reso on national healthcare is a beard to cover his opposition to a real way to get national healthcare by supporting state and regional initiatives.

Earlier today, on the floor of the American Federation of Teachers convention in Houston, Texas, I motivated a resolution to seek federal legislation to protect Medicare and expand Social Security benefits for seniors — and to ensure that these benefits will never be diminished. Forget the fact that I worked diligently in the MLC in NYC in concert with Mayor Adams to weaken Medicare and reduce benefits for seniors while promoting a privatized MedAdv plan that itself would definitely NOT protect Medicare but in fact would weaken it.
 
We’ve said for years we need federal intervention to protect all our health care benefits for both retirees and in-service members as a way to deflect from our actions to take away Medicare on the MLC.

 

We can no longer wait for the federal government to do the right thing. We need to push for it, and the push starts with our retirees while we stab those NYC retirees in the back. We will fight like hell oppose any state-wide moves.
 
This fight needs to be national even though we full well know there is zero chance of making any changes. Protecting health care at the local and state levels isn't enough while we use specious arguments to oppose any moves to implement local and regional solutions that would expand medicare and would benefit not only retirees but everyone.

 

We need to wage a war against an industry that cares more about quarterly profits and bonuses than its patients’ care while we promote that very industry like Aetna as solutions in NYC while the Dem party rakes in contributions from these industry lobbyists.

 

Let’s not forget: Our members pay into Medicare and Social Security throughout their careers (while we let anyone who makes over 168k off the hook), and we cannot let opponents chip away at these programs while I and my fellows on the MLC chip away all the way. Our retirement security depends on them, except for those teacher retirees we supposedly represent.

 

No one works harder than public school educators, nurses and other public employees. The push for this federal legislation is just the first step in a campaign to protect the health care of all UFT members, both working and retired. Of course we have no plan when we ignore a strategy of gaining national health care through a local strategy. With so much at stake in the elections in November, Congress needs to lock in Medicare and Social Security benefits, and it needs to act now while we make sure to oppose any state level moves to do the same. But we always want Dem party funders and lobbyists from the health care industry on board so like ObamaCare and will always keep a warm spot open for them to make their profits on the backs of our members.

 

Sincerely,

Someone named Michael (just in case the UFT sends lawyers after me like they did to Arthur.)

-----

Under Assault also comments on Mulgrew’s new resolutions: an exercise in futility .... Fighting for Traditional Medicare has never been on the UFT agenda as far as I know. It’s hardly within its purview... The Second resolution is practically meaningless. No candidate at the federal or state level is currently trying to find a real solution to preserve “high-quality and affordable benefits.” The only way to do that would be to change the tax structure and cut the ravenous middlemen corporations out altogether – those giant entities that have taken over the healthcare industries from top to bottom, eating up Medicare dollars. That solution would be Single Payer, and I don’t hear anyone talking much about it these days.... As for the Third resolution:  there are no “simple solutions” to healthcare. (I don’t even understand what Mulgrew means by “simple solutions to necessary changes” – and I don’t think he knows either.)... for the Fourth, where Mulgrew says they’ll seek federal legislation to ensure that Medicare and SS won’t be diminished. Exactly what form will that “seeking” take? The AFT won’t find big solutions with the lobbyists.

Here is a letter to The Chief from Harry Weiner

No advantages

Posted Wednesday, July 24, 2024 2:40 pm 

https://thechiefleader.com/stories/no-advantages,52791

To the editor: 

UFT President Michael Mulgrew has withdrawn support for the Medicare Advantage and the current health care negotiations for in-service and pre-Medicare retirees. In a letter to the Municipal Labor Committee outlining his about-face, he complained that “this administration has proven to be more interested in cutting its costs than honestly working with us to provide high-quality healthcare to city workers.” 

In an NY1 interview, Mulgrew added that the City “should stop all of these appeals” and expressed concern that a court labeled City attorneys “incompetent.” He also told The Chief that the relationship with administration officials has become “adversarial.” 

These are crocodile tears, as MLC attorneys, with his blessing, have sided with the city in litigation brought by retirees. MLC legal filings have failed, and their lawyers are losing all the way to the bank. 

According to the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, MLC attorney Alan Klinger was paid $882,000 in 2022 and $763,000 in 2023 to fight the retirees in court. (The MLC’s house attorney, Harry Greenberg, has a $60,000 annual income.) With cash reserves drained, an attempt was made to pass an MLC dues increase to cover the $700,000 debt owed to a consulting firm for health plan guidance.
 

MLC Chair Harry Nespoli sent a letter to Mayor Adams echoing Mulgrew’s concerns about protracted ”legal hurdles.” Sadly, there was no call to drop any appeal. Nor did the MLC (or Mulgrew) endorse city and state legislation to protect retiree health benefits. 

Nespoli writes that the mayor has rebuffed requests to meet, collaborate and resolve delays. Hizzoner won’t return calls. Nespoli now knows how snubbed the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees has felt these past three years. 

Harry Weiner 

  Marianne video

Important information: November is the month to change health plans plus a wealth of Medicare Health Information from Julie Woodward

Healthcare has been on the minds of all UFTers recently with changes coming to working members and with the recent victories of retirees to hold onto their traditional medicare along with the DOE coverage of 20% with seniorcare.

This is a message from Julie Woodward, a former middle school chapter leader and one of the founders of ICE/UFT caucus. Working with Julie in ICE was a pleasure as she was often meticulous in her efforts. Julie retired years ago and became an expert on health care coverage for Medicare eligible seniors and has developed workshops to assist seniors in making health insurance decisions. With November being the opportunity to change plans she asked me to share this message with links to workshops she runs for seniors plus a wide range of information in general.

November’s the month when retirees can change their current city plan to another one (find the forms you need on the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) website here), but I don’t expect anyone is going to swap GHI Sr Care for one of the other ones, like Emblem’s HIP VIP HMO. Clearly most people are really afraid of those prior authorizations in the advantage plans, plus the provider networks. As it happens, I have to change plans this year myself, because of the cost of a single drug. 

But Medicare has other quirky things in it that are truly confounding, like what falls under Part, B, D, or what is not covered at all. There’s all kinds of rules for things. Here is a short list of examples. There are many more.

• when you can get into a rehab facility, 
• how skilled nursing works at home, 
• acupuncture restrictions, 
• opt-out vs. non-participating doctors, 
• which parts of Medicare cover different aspects of chemo or diabetes, 
• how hospice works, and so forth.

So I asked Norm if he’d tell people about Demystifying Medicare, a comprehensive and, believe it or not, upbeat workshop I’ve been doing for almost a decade many times a year all around Westchester. So much of what I cover is useful in understanding how our retiree City plans work. Of course ours are negotiated plans, but they're structurally so similar to what’s available in the open market, that sometimes its just good to take a deeper dive into what’s going on out there. And it keeps changing each year, as the industry gets more aggressive and shareholders in these companies want more of the pie. 

For many years the group I’m involved with has steeped themselves in this stuff and make it our responsibility to help people navigate the system. We were originally trained by the by the Medicare Rights Center in NYC and are now in partnership with the Westchester Library System and the county’s Office of Sr Programs and Services. We’re all HIICAP-certified, unaffiliated counselors, and our presentations and individual counseling (in-person or through a hotline) are all free. 

Demystifying Medicare has also been online since the first year of COVID, when the live events were cancelled.  People can listen to segments at home while they follow a .pdf with pictures of all the old-school displays I use in the in-person programs. (No PowerPoints, I hate those.) There are also links for handouts and a list of all scheduled in-person workshops.  

Contact information for Julie or free individual counseling certified by NY State: sbicmedia@gmail.com

 

NYC Retirees tell City Council " It's time to get off the fence" and joining the July 25 Save Medicare Rally in DC

I did make it to the City Hall Rally for City Council Bill on Thursday but a little late. Good to see working teachers Nick, Judi and Ibeth get there to show support. It was a hot day and it looked like about 150 retirees showed up. I heard the end of the Charles Barron speech and Marianne made a strong speech. The great think was how many unions were present.

UFT hacks have been trying to discredit Marianne by whispering to City Council people she lives in Georgia and must be a Trumpy. It's the same slime we always see coming out of Unity. When they can't beat you to go dirty. And by the way - if the oppo ever threatens their control watch the dirt fly by doing the opposite - red baiting the oppo. Or maybe they will say we are secret Trunpies. And if we dare raise questions about the vote we are automatically Trumpies. Oh the quandry for the hacks -- trying to decide whether to attack opponents as right or left?

Here is the Working Bites link and full article below: 

NYC Retirees Tell Council Members ‘It’s Time to Get Off the Fence’

Here are some pics:

 

The turnout from City Hall Park

 

I also signed up for the July 25 sojourn to Washington. Seeing the movement grow from our own narrow interests here in NYC and plug into the national Medicare issue is a great sign.

Thank you for your interest in joining the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, Protect Traditional Public Medicare (PTPM) and Be A Hero in Washington DC on July 25th.

We are so excited to have you join us in DC as we fight together to Reclaim Medicare from Corporate Greed.  Our goal is to make sure our elected leaders in DC know that we support strengthening and improving Medicare and that no one should be forced onto these private insurance plans that delay and deny care. We are planning a press conference and speakout on capitol hill and some lobby visits with elected officials.  

 

Work-Bites

 

By Joe Maniscalco

Comptroller Lander Attacks Plans to Reduce Medicare as he Declines to Register Medicare Advantage Contract Pending Litigation

“As a matter of public policy, beyond the scope of our office’s specific Charter responsibility for contract registration, I am seriously concerned about the privatization of Medicare plans, overbilling by insurance companies, and barriers to care under Medicare Advantage.... Recent investigations identified extensive allegations of fraud, abuse, overbilling, and denials of medically necessary care at 9 of the top 10 Medicare Advantage plans, including CVS Health, which owns Aetna.  ... ‘Once corporations privatize every inch of the public provision of health care, we may never get Medicare back... Brad Lander

Wow! Brad Lander goes on my very small list of politicians I still vote for.... NYC Retirees

Friday, June 9, 2023

Good news. With the deadline to opt out (June 30) of MulgrewDisadvantateCare fast approaching, Brad Lander tosses a monkey wrench into the Mayor Adams/MRC/UFT deal to drag city retirees out of Medicare into the privately managed, profit making Aetna plan, due to take effect on Sept. 1. As you can see above, Lander went further than just talking about the specifics but went after the general attack on Medicare by the insurance lobby and its allies - our own union.

Fundamentally, the UFT/Unity backing of this change is anti-union and anti-worker. But with a union leadership that dovetails with the corporate wing of the Dem party, why expect anything else? We've noticed that some of the rhetoric coming from the mouth of Randi Weingarten and crew turn calls for Medicare for all into MedicareAdvantage for all --- meaning the standard neo-liberal attacks on government run programs as Medicare is. 

Last week, the lawsuit was filed by retirees and yesterday a bill was supposed to be introduced by Charles Baron to the city council, with a large demo outside of retirees but that was postponed until next week - most likely June 22 - Thursday. It's important to have big crowds at these rallies -- politicians notice.

With Adams facing an election in two years, I imagine Lander has put himself into the running as retirees will vote heavily to oppose Adams and Lander just gave himself a leg up. Yes, politics do matter. Even it we don't win the medicare case, we can punish Adams in the next election - and Mulgrew too - both in 2025.

But there is some skepticism in that the Mayor can overrule Lander and will probably do so, so don't go crazy. However, Lander went much further than the narrow legal issues and raised crucial points we have been trying to raise at the UFT - that they were helping kill the only public option. 

Nick has notes at NAC on the story:

New Action – UFT

Mulgrew: the Comptroller is worried about MAP. Why aren’t you? -

Yes, Mayor Adams may reverse Lander’s decision. But we now have well positioned allies refusing to sign off on retiree healthcare cuts. And that bodes well for the future, even if it does mean our dear beloved Unity-led UFT leaders may need to find their ‘healthcare savings’ elsewhere, as their debt to the City passes its due date. And yes, with the spotlight on retirees, we should expect those cuts to land on in-service teachers, who have been promised the absurd: an ‘equal or better replacement to GHI at 10% cheaper of a cost.’

When will that replacement be announced? You better bet it won’t be until after Mulgrew tries to ram through a mediocre contract—and that process will start as early as next week. So, before we vote on a TA, let’s make sure we ask – what will only 90% of our current health plan look like, and how will we afford it on a pay-cut?

Make no mistake: we can’t win the battle against healthcare cuts solely on the good graces of well-positioned politicians. Ultimately, we need to situate ourselves to be able to stop anti-labor backroom deals. As Mulgrew is keen to remind us at DAs and executive board meetings, health care is a part of our overall compensation. Well, we vote on whether to accept what the City offers us in economic compensation. So, both now and when we’re retired, we deserve a vote on changes to medical coverage too. Since UFT leadership doesn’t see the problems everyone else sees with reducing our coverage and tossing retirees onto MAP, we need a formal and permanent mechanism to keep them from doing so.

I'm hitting all my docs before Sept. 1 - braving the smoke today to keep a cardiology appointment - I do preventive maintenance - like having my car checked regularly. I think today is a stress test which I think will show I have slowed down since the last one -- I'm thinking it's my weight which I can't seem to lose - probably due to the cheese cake at UFT Ex Bd meetings. Or maybe it's the stress of seeing my own union try to reduce my healthcare.

The email below was sent by a large medical group here in Delray Beach regarding their feelings about Aetna.  It's an important read regarding their past dealings with Aetna.  

 

Here is Lander's complete statement:

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2023

Chloe Chik, (646) 761-2914 cchik@comptroller.nyc.gov press@comptroller.nyc.gov

Comptroller Lander Declines to Register Medicare Advantage Contract Pending Litigation

New York, NY – The Comptroller’s Office declined to register the City’s contract with Aetna to transfer City retirees to a Medicare Advantage program for their health care coverage. A pending lawsuit, brought on behalf of retirees, questions the City’s authority to enter into such an agreement.   Comptroller Brad Lander issued the following statement:  “The Comptroller’s Bureau of Contract Administration carefully reviewed the City’s contract with Aetna and returned the contract to the Office of Labor Relations without registering it. Pending litigation calls into question the legality of this procurement and constrains us from fulfilling our Charter mandated responsibility to confirm that procurement rules were followed, sufficient funds are available, and the City has the necessary authority to enter into the contract.  “As a matter of public policy, beyond the scope of our office’s specific Charter responsibility for contract registration, I am seriously concerned about the privatization of Medicare plans, overbilling by insurance companies, and barriers to care under Medicare Advantage.   “I appreciate the work of the Municipal Labor Council and the Office of Labor Relations to negotiate improvements to the Aetna contract to address some of the concerns raised by retirees. However, the broader Medicare Advantage trends are worrisome. Recent investigations identified extensive allegations of fraud, abuse, overbilling, and denials of medically necessary care at 9 of the top 10 Medicare Advantage plans, including CVS Health, which owns Aetna.   “As health care activist Ady Barkan wrote last month, noting that half of Medicare enrollees nationwide have been transferred from traditional Medicare to private Medicare Advantage plans: ‘Once corporations privatize every inch of the public provision of health care, we may never get Medicare back.’”

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