Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
Retiree Advocate is doing a zoom on Sunday Nov. 6 7PM to address questions people may have and to expose the confusion created by the the joint operation of the city and some of the unions, led by Mulgrew in the UFT and DC 37, the largest components who dominate the MLC (Metropolitan Labor Committee) who make deals with the city that control our health care. We may not have all the answers but we have some answers. We are hoping to have Marianne Pizzitola join us but if she can't make it we have some knowledgeable people.
MORE is planning another zoom in the same issue a week later at the same time and Marianne is definitely going to be there.
Exposing the Adams/Mulgrew Threat to Our Healthcare: Untangling the Confusion
This Sunday, Nov 6 at 7PM, Retiree Advocate/UFT is holding a Zoom Info Meeting to share what we know - and what we don't know - regarding the current healthcare crisis in our unions.
Learn what role Mulgrew and other union leaders in the MLC have been playing in partnership with Mayor Adams and the Office of Labor Relations.
New information is coming in constantly and we are trying to stay up to date. This meeting will share info & analysis, and try to answer your questions.
Attendance will be limited to 100. Meeting will be recorded for those who cannot make it.
Here are some comments I gleaned from some of the listserve discussions after a district rep sent out an appeal to chapter leaders to get their staffs to call the city council to change the admin code. As Jonathan says in his current blog: Administrative Code 12-126 – Line by line:
The code today means:
“The City pays an amount equal to the cost of HIP”
The code if the Mulgrew/Nespoli/Adams amendment goes through will say:
The City pays the cost
of HIP, and no more than that, or else some other amount – and that
amount could be different for different groups of city workers, and
there is no limit on how low those amounts might be.
When you call your city council member, please explain this to them
as you urge them to protect workers and retirees, and reject the
amendment.
Comments from RA listserve:
It's
pure pap! All one has to do is read the amendment language. Your DR is
asking you to not believe your own eyes or use your own brain. The
amendment reaffirms nothing because Judge Frank's ruling changed
absolutely nothing. His ruling merely said that retirees are protected
from paying premiums, specifically on the now-dormant Medicare Advantage
Plus plan, because of price protections built into the city code.
It's not hard to understand the amendment. Just look at it. It does two things and two things only: First it strips
healthcare price protections, for ALL current and retired municipal
employees, by yanking those protections out of city law, and placing
them in the hands of OLR lawyers and union bosses. Second, it allows city bureaucrats to classify municipal employees into separate, as yet undefined, categories. That's a prospect that begs the creation of tiered, unequal levels of coverage for past and present city workers.
I bet your DR wouldn't wish that on her mother's health plan!
, or in the alternative,
This means, "What was said before this doesn't count."
in
the case of any class of individuals eligible for coverage by a plan
jointly agreed upon by the city and the municipal labor committee to be a
benchmark plan for such class,
This means,
"For anyone and everyone in city employment, the benchmark price -
formerly established as the cost of the HIP-HMO plan, and until now
protected by this law - can now be chosen by the MLC and OLR. We don't
need no stinkin' law, made by stinkin' elected legislators, to tell us
what to do! And if we want to, we can have multiple plans, and multiple
benchmark prices, for multiple classes of people, and we can change that
any time we like. So there!"
not to exceed the full cost of such benchmark plan as applied to such class.
This means, "When we say your brand new benchmark plan costs only ten bucks, but you want to stay in your old plan; the one that costs five hundred bucks - and that we will still offer because we believe in freedom of choice - no
problem! Just cough up the $490. But hey, if you want, you can have our
super-duper $5 or $8 plan for free! Because, you know, choice!"
And some Media links to articles:
An excellent article below from Work-Bites
Beware of the Mad Dash to Medicare Advantage
By Joe Maniscalco
Commentary
So, some of the most powerful people in town are warning the rest of us that the most pressing — the most urgent — the most vital issue — facing the City of New York right now is the need to immediately privatize healthcare for municipal retirees — or else. I dunno about you, but this kind of thing reminds me of that time working people were told we had to bail out the big banks.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago when then U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson put up a scary countdown clock and told everyone in the country we had to cough up $700 billion to bail out the financial sector — right away — no time for talk — no deliberation — or all was lost.
Paulson got his money.
A few years later writing for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi called TARP — the Troubled Asset Relief Program — a “lush nightmare of unintended consequences” and “one of the biggest and most elaborate falsehoods ever sold to the American people.”
The City Council must enable budget-cutting new health
insurance options for retirees, warns Eric Adams’s chief labor
negotiator — or City Hall will eliminate existing insurance plans
The negotiations are taking place in
virtual secret. This lack of transparency is happening with the full
knowledge of the various union leaderships, including the UFT. Retirees
of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), just this week, their
Delegate Assembly passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on these
negotiations and for ”voices of municipal retirees to be heard”.
We're hearing from UFT retirees who haven't been in touch as a
horror film of sorts unfolds for all municipal retirees under Medicare (65 and above) which can lead to them losing access to their doctors and paying high fees. The important thing to understand is that our own union leaders have been engaging in secret negotiations and are about to spring it all on us. At the most recent retiree chapter meeting, our Retiree Advocate/UFT caucus that is challenging the retiree Unity Caucus in the upcoming retiree election, had the item put on the agenda and Mulgew was one of the guest speakers.
Here are two reports from the UFT Retiree Chapter meeting, April 14, 2021:
Unity
seems a little shaken that the MLC/Medicare negotiation is out of the
bag. So, according to Mulgrew, anything the MLC negotiates will be the
best thing ever, because anything he touches turns to gold. He is very
smart! And according to Sorkin:
Yes,
a Medicare Advantage plan is on the table... but don't you worry,
you silly people! This is not yesterday's old-fashioned, crappy Medicare
Advantage plan (the kind we always told you scary stories about); this
is today's shiny!, brand new!, awesome! Medicare Advantage plan! What are you, an old fogey? Get with the program. This is modern! This is a "White glove, concierge service!"
What's more, the plan is more of a PPO, rather than HMO plan. (You got that? The letters are different!)
Part B & IRMAA reimbursements are not on the table. Who told you that? That's a pernicious rumor. Pinky swear.
Do you feel reassured yet?
No I don't feel reassured. The other retiree added:
Mulgrew also said: Two years ago, we decided to be
active consumers. We want access to the same or better health care! But
now, because of the RFP, I can't talk too much. (What the f is a RFP? He
used these initials a few times but never said what it stands for. Or
did I miss something?)
If we do anything, you'll be in a better place! We
will make it better. I guarantee. We will fight for you...Blah blah,,
that's as far as I can go with the RFP....
Then Jeff Sorkin continued to "address some rumors that are out there".
Report above describes the main points he made. I especially chocked when he spoke of the Access to lifelong concierge services- assistance, guidance to manage chronic conditions. But it's not a Gatekeeper...
Some additional points I heard him say:
"You will be able to retain your current doctors". and "You'll have access to all doctors that take Medicare"
Can't this be contradictory??
"Nothing is finalized" Right. But it will be without any input from membership.
[Tom) Murphy ended with options, choices, enhancements.
looking forward. The history of the UFT with the MLC is to enhance
benefits, save money.
"Guarantee to keep your benefits or enhance them:
Now I know we're all reassured!
And an old friend commented:
Leave it to the municipal unions to agree back in 2018 to cut medical
expenses for the city by $2 billion or so dollars by the end of the
contract in 2021 and it looks like they are planning on turning us
into a medicare advantage plan as opposed to regular medicare . This is a
disaster for retirees - once it becomes an advantage plan you must see
doctors in their network - kind of like the old HIP and every procedure
will be looked. Dr. Mark doesn't take med advantage plans nor do lots of
others because they pay doctors less then medicare does. I assume you
know about Mike's (Schirtzer's - Retiree Advocate) resolution for the DA. They will sell it to the
members as a benefit just like the ads on radio and TV do - lower
premiums, eyeglass and dental coverage, etc. Of course what they won't
say is that there will no longer be Part B reimbursement checks each
year to cover medicare and also no more IRMAA for those paying a higher
medicare premium because they earn over the threshold. It's really all about IRMAA - for recent single retirees who have
retired with a pension of 80,000 or so and social security of 20,000 and
TDA annual RMD's of lets say 40,000 they pay about $1800 for regular
medicare and another $1800 for IRMAA so they would lose $3600 in rebates
a year.
This is what RA sent out to members:
Retiree Advocate/UFT is sounding the alarm to all retirees and in-service members of a pending change to our health care. The
City and MLC (Municipal Labor Committee) are in negotiations to give
the administration of our health coverage over to a private insurance
company. Two companies , Aetna and Emblem Health, are among the
finalists. This would transfer the 250,000 municipal retires from our
current traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan (a privatized
Medicare). NYC has called for more savings not for retirees but for
itself.
Retiree Advocate/UFT called on Tom Murphy to place the issue
before the Retired Teachers Chapter meeting last month. He did but we
received a superficial explanation. Last week Retiree Advocate was
fortunate to have Mike Schirtzer, a UFT Executive Board member, put a
Retiree Advocate initiated resolution to the April 14 UFT Delegate Assembly. The
resolution, one of many, was placed well into the agenda thus ensuring
that President Mulgrew did not get to it, thereby delaying
action on this vital issue.
This article from The City is setting off alarms among retirees with some calling for a rally or even a die in at MMC headquarters. I was thinking of a rally with our walkers, like The Producers. There are ineresting and alarming details in this article
Retired City Workers Recoil at Coming Cost-Saving Medicare Shift
Impending move to privately managed
health plans could save taxpayers as much as $600 million annually — at a
high cost to retirees, who may have to pay more for less care and fewer
doctor choices, some warn.
Nearly 250,000 retired New York City employees and their spouses could have their health insurance changed to “Medicare Advantage” plans managed by private insurers as soon as July 1, New York Focus has learned.
Retirees, who are pushing to delay the switch, say they
are worried that a switch away from their current Medicare plan could
lead to dramatically higher out-of-pocket costs and a smaller network of
providers.
“It’s a little frightening,” said Jane Roeder, a retired
city administrator. “The word on the street is that these Advantage
plans are fine as long as you don’t get sick, as long as you don’t need
the chemotherapy that my friend is having right now, or radiation
treatment, or infusion treatment, or skilled nursing.”
The proposed switchover follows a June 2018 agreement
between the Municipal Labor Committee, a group that represents retired
New York City employees, and the city Office of Labor Relations.
Under that pact, both sides agreed to reduce health care
costs for retirees by $600 million a year relative to 2018 forecasts,
starting in 2021. Switching to Medicare Advantage, also known as
Medicare Part C, was one of eight possibilities proposed at the time.
Under Medicare Advantage, the city projects it would save
that sum by paying a fee to a private insurance company to manage a
Medicare plan. Documents reviewed by New York Focus indicatea deal is being negotiated between the city and private insurance companies seeking to administer the coverage.
The
city currently reimburses retirees the cost of their premiums for
Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care, and also pays for a
supplemental “Medigap” plan to insure for services not covered by traditional Medicare.
Premiums for Medicare Advantage are often lower than in traditional Medicare,
but involve trade-offs that could affect retirees’ health and finances:
a smaller network, and higher out-of-pocket costs, said Naomi Zewde, a
professor of public health at CUNY who is a Roosevelt Institute fellow.
“The city is going to save money by making seniors pay
more for their health care,” Zewde said. “These are people who worked an
entire career under the promise that they would have good health care
later on.”
Fewer Physicians
City retirees currently have access to the vast majority of physicians in New York. Medicare Advantage plans generally have fewer options: A 2017 national study from the Kaiser Foundation found that on average, Medicare Advantage plans offered access to just 40% of physicians in Queens.
Contract-related documents made public by the city Office
of Labor relations suggest an increase of as much as $6,000 annually in
potential out-of-pocket costs per retiree could be in store. Such costs
are currently capped at $1,053 per year, according to Len Rodberg, a
retired CUNY professor and health policy expert who would be affected by
the potential change.
The documents show annual out of pocket costs could reach upwards of $7,000 for an individual — approaching the maximum allowed by Medicare under law.
“Basic city workers in the $30,000 to $50,000 [salary]
range, their Social Security payments are smaller, their pension is
smaller; they’re going to get hit badly by this,” Rodberg said.
Some budget watchdogs have highlighted retiree health care savings as necessary to bring $2.2 billion in annual city benefits spending under control.
“Health
care savings are important. They’re essential to getting the city on
solid fiscal footing, due to the rate at which these costs grow,” said
Ana Champeny, director of city studies at the fiscally conservative
Citizens Budget Commission. “It’s important to come to a consensus about
how to control the costs, and how to possibly reduce the retiree health
costs too.”
But retiree advocates say the deal in the works is too high a price for members to pay.
“Somehow you’re going to save $600 million, and the
200,000 Medicare retiree recipients are going to somehow get no worse
and maybe even better service?” said Stuart Eber, president of the
Council of Municipal Retiree Organizations.
‘People Don’t Know’
The city Office of Labor Relations received eight
proposals for Medicare Advantage plans, now winnowed down to two
finalists: Aetna and Empire BlueCross BlueShield, multiple retirees said
they’ve been informed by their unions.
Cost-cutting employers have been gravitating toward
Medicare Advantage, created in 1997 under then-President Bill Clinton.
As of 2018, 39% of New York State’s Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
“Employers have been gravitating towards Medicare
Advantage plans to save money on their retiree health obligations,” said
Tricia Neuman, executive director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s
Program on Medicare Policy. “New York is not alone.”
Neuman notes that Medicare Advantage plans rely on a list
of in-network doctors. “They’re likely to be more limited in their
provider network than traditional Medicare coupled with a Medigap
policy,” Neuman said.
Some union officials have attempted to obtain information
on their future access to services such as lab tests and rehab
facilities, to little success.
“We haven’t gotten specific answers to those questions,
and because we’re not privy to the negotiations, we don’t know that
they’re not an issue,” said Neal Frumkin, a retiree leader with DC 37,
the city’s largest public employee union.
‘Fewer Services’
Achieving the $600 million savings could involve
requiring pre-approval from insurers for certain procedures. “That would
mean fewer services that would be covered by the plan, potentially,”
Neuman said.
More than half
of Medicare Advantage participants are enrolled in plans that require
prior authorization for ambulance rides, mental health services,
inpatient hospital stays and other services, according to a Kaiser
analysis.
CUNY retirees are mobilizing against the Medicare
Advantage shift, at least until more details are known. At the end of
the April 5 meeting, over 93% of attendees voted to request a moratorium, saying that retirees “have not been provided adequate and timely information” about the details of the proposed change.
None
of the unions represented among the Municipal Labor Committee’s
officers responded to requests for comment, nor did the city Office of
Labor Relations. They include the United Federation of Teachers, the
Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, DC 37, the City Employees Union
and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.
Frumkin said that DC37 president and Municipal Labor
Committee co-chair Henry Garrido voiced his support for the proposed
change at the union’s March executive board meeting.
“Garrido’s position is that it’s a must do because that
savings is necessary to stabilize the health benefits for the entire
city of New York; the city has to be able to afford to do what they’re
doing,” Frumkin said.
“The argument that Garrido makes is that the city
fiscally is in a dangerous place, therefore we are trying to come up
with savings to enable them to get over this financial problem that they
have.”
