Retired Member's Association of the NYC Fire Dept.

New York’s Highest Court Hears Final Arguments in Medicare Advantage Case

ALBANY (5/15) A panel of judges on New York’s highest court heard final arguments on Thursday in the long-running case over the fate of a controversial plan to switch the city’s 250,000 retirees to Medicare Advantage —- and the hundreds of millions in annual savings for health costs tied up in the deal.

Central to the case before the Court of Appeals is the question of whether or not the planned switchover violated guarantees by the city that every retired city worker is entitled to city-funded health care through a combination of Medicare and other supplemental insurance.

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge sided with a group representing city retirees in a decision in the summer of 2023 that also banned the city from carrying out the plan, which was negotiated with the city’s labor unions with then-mayor Bill de Blasio. Before that court defeat, the plan was set to go into effect that September as a means to secure more than $600 million in annual savings to the city’s stabilization fund that covers some premiums for active city workers.

Lawyers for the Adams administration have filed multiple appeals but appellate judges have sided with the retirees in every instance. The Court of Appeals is expected to issue its decision in the coming months.

In a tidy 30-minute hearing, the court’s seven judges grilled attorneys for the city and the plaintiffs, the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, over whether traditional Medicare was ever explicitly promised to city retirees — with several justices turning the screws on the city over assertions not only by the retirees’s lawyers but in an affidavit submitted by a former deputy mayor that the health care benefits were a decades-long “essential recruitment and retention tool” for the city.

“We are confident that the facts and fairness are on our side, and that the equities are on our side,” Jacob Gardener, the attorney for the retirees, told THE CITY. “They have to determine whether the city can be bound by promises that it made, or statements that it made — and I think the law is clear that it can be bound.”

The retirees have argued that their right to city-funded health care is enshrined in the city Administrative Code and under a legal doctrine known as “promissory estoppel;” in this case, that the city made a clear and unambiguous promise over more than 50 years — in HR meetings, recruitment materials and other communications — that employees would be entitled to traditional Medicare, with the city covering their premiums upon retirement.

The courtroom’s 65 public seats were packed with retirees bussed to Albany from Manhattan by the NYC Retirees, while more than a dozen others watched the hearing on a screen in an overflow room.

Many retirees in the courtroom stirred as the judges grilled the two attorneys over the question of whether the “promise” of traditional Medicare benefits was verbally made by HR managers to every city worker upon retirement. “Yes. Yes!” they loudly whispered.

“It’s exasperating, because the questions that they’re asking, sometimes I think they didn’t read the full record or they don’t understand the position that we’re in or the promises that were made,” said Marianne Pizzitola, the president of the retiree organization. “Many of us, many of the people that are here today — they took that job for that reason.”

Retirees have long argued that Medicare Advantage plans offer inferior health care and higher costs. Connie Canaras, a retired public school teacher, called out Mayor Eric Adams, who has invoked the memory of his late mother, a city retiree, to position himself as a mayor for the working class.

“How in all consciousness could he think that Medicare Advantage was as good as Medicare and the supplement that we are receiving now?” said Canaras. “I’d ask him, would you want your mother to be on Aetna Medicare Advantage?”

As the matter plays out in court, efforts to enshrine retiree’s health benefits through legislation have stalled in the state legislature and the City Council as labor leaders — including many of those who struck the agreement to switch over to Medicaid Advantage in the first place — object that those efforts infringe on their collective bargaining rights.

On Thursday, the United Federation of Teachers — which walked back its support for Medicare Advantage last summer as insurgents unhappy with that deal are challenging longtime leader Michael Mulgrew in the union’s own election — chose to endorse a candidate challenging the bill’s main sponsor in the Council.

The union had previously endorsed that lawmaker, Chris Marte of Lower Manhattan, in 2023.

In a statement to THE CITY, Marte said he believed the union’s snub was in retaliation for his support of the anti-Medicare Advantage bill; the union said it simply chose to endorse a different candidate.

It follows a decision by District Council 37, first reported by the Daily News, to rescind its endorsement of Council member Alexa Avilés of Sunset Park over her support of Marte’s bill. (The UFT, however, did endorse Avilés on Thursday, and several other lawmakers who’ve signed on to the bill.)

“I believe that UFT’s endorsement of my opponent is definitely because I introduced Intro-1096 to stop the privatization of city retirees’ health care,” said Marte. “We are confident that many UFT members — active and retired — will come out strong in this election to defend the healthcare that was promised to them, and that I’m fighting for in the City Council.”

Marte dropped by a brief demonstration by the retirees across from the City Council’s offices at 250 Broadway near City Hall before they loaded their buses to Albany early Thursday morning. Alongside him in solidarity with the retirees was independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden, who was endorsed by the retirees’ group in November.

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Today's Ruling Requires the City to Pay the Entire Cost of Retirees' Preferred Health Insurance

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, issued a historic decision in favor of 250,000 Medicare-eligible retired New York City workers and their dependents. The Court held that the City must continue to pay the entire cost of any health insurance plan a retiree chooses, thus preserving retirees' right to City-funded Medicare supplemental insurance.

Rejecting the City's argument that the City can cease funding retirees' health insurance, the Court unanimously held that "the City must pay—up to the statutory cap—for each health insurance plan that it offers employees and retirees." The decision is available here.

In 2021, the City announced that it would stop paying for retirees' Medicare supplemental insurance and automatically switch them into a federally funded—and far inferior—type of insurance called Medicare Advantage. Unlike Medicare supplemental insurance, Medicare Advantage plans limit access to medical providers and regularly deny coverage for necessary care. Under the leadership of Marianne Pizzitola and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, retirees banded together and sued to protect their right to Medicare supplemental insurance.

This is another resounding victory for the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees (one of the lead plaintiffs in the case) and the entire retiree community. In the past three years, they have brought three separate lawsuits regarding their healthcare rights and have obtained landmark victories in each case at both the trial and appellate levels.

Marianne Pizzitola, President of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, states, "The City's plan to defund retiree healthcare has now been analyzed by 13 different judges across all three levels of the state court system. Every single judge—all 13 of them—have concluded that the City's plan is unlawful. We once again call on the City and the Municipal Labor Committee to end their ruthless and unlawful campaign to deprive retired municipal workers of the healthcare benefits they earned."

Jake Gardener, a partner at Walden Macht Haran & Williams LLP, counsel to the retirees, says, "We are grateful to the Court of Appeals for affirming the healthcare rights of hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled retired City workers. Because of today's decision, countless senior citizens and disabled first responders will be able to continue receiving the medical care they desperately need and to which they are entitled."

Steve Cohen, a partner at Pollock Cohen LLP, which also represents the retirees, states, "We are thrilled that the Court of Appeals agrees that City retirees deserve what they were promised: payment for the health plan of their choice."

Come On Now, Time to Donate!

It takes $$$ to go up against the City. Marianne has proven once again that she knows how to defeat them.

In this season of giving, lets all support her and her organization to help her defeat the other pending issues that the city is trying to jam down our throats; THE Co-Pay Issue and the right to choose a secondary health plan.

CLICK ON "DONATE NOW" to help with the next Lawsuit.

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MARIANNE PIZZITOLA LEADS THE CITY HALL RALLY

250-300 SHOWED UP for the Rally & March from CITY HALL to the CVS at the corner of Spring Street & 6th Ave. Unbeknownst to me or anyone in the crowd, we all learned that CVS owns AETNA. Backed by some Unions, AETNA would be our Healthcare Advocates in the Medicare Dis-Advantage Plan. So we protested in front of their store at the

corner of Spring Street & 6th Ave.

It was a good turn out and very loud. We were escorted by the

NYPD from City Hall to CVS.

Marianne Pizzitola led the charge. At City Hall she spoke with members

of the City Council.

They all know her on a first name basis.

Many Thanks to Tom Hogan & Wife, Mike O'Keeffe, Joe Bryant and Bill Schillinger for showing up to lend their support.

See the pictures below of the day.

[PLEASE SCROLL DOWN BELOW TO SEND A MESSAGE TO MAYOR ADAMS]

LATEST VIDEO FROM MARIANNE EXPLAINING THE AETNA DEBACLE PLAN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN-Dkyna0wQ

IF WE ARE FORCED INTO THIS PLAN WE ALL GET SCREWED

THIS MAYOR DOESN'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT US

PLEASE SEND HIM A MESSAGE SCROLL DOWN BELOW

or go to the ACT NOW PAGE

UPDATES TO THE MEDICARE DIS-ADVANTAGE PROPOSAL

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

Because the City revised the Emblem contract, the Judge lifted the stay on the copays. This means that beginning January 2025, we will most likely see copays. There is no ending date to the contract, it expires when the City goes to change it. This is another gift of the MLC under the leadership of DC37 and the UFT, and its chair Harry Nespoli. Copays in this contract are $15. We will keep you posted when more information comes out of OLR on these changes. But please be patient, as the meat and potatoes of the case has not yet been argued. This is just the stay that has been lifted... and the City has not put out anything on this yet, but since open enrollment is around the corner - we will be watching.

UPCOMING EVENTS / RALLYS

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

GO TO OUR ACT NOW PAGE FOR FURTHER

INFO

DONATIONS NEEDED!

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

DONATIONS NEEDED!

Donations are still needed as we are juggling three and possibly FOUR oral arguments! Thank you for your generosity! See below to donate! There are 250,000 retirees who are on Medicare. There are more who will be on Medicare soon. If you want to make sure you are not on managed care - forced into a plan your doctors and hospitals do not accept, subjecting you to prior authorization, support our organization. If you never donated, the time is now. For three years, we have proven our strategies and arguments are on point. We have saved retirees thousands of dollars! Not to mention protecting the benefits the City was illegally trying to take away.

Join The NYC Org. of Public Svce Retirees!

PRESS RELEASE FROM NYC RETIREES:

New York Appellate Division Affirms City Retirees’ Right to Promised Medicare Benefits

Today’s Ruling Bars City From Forcing Retirees off of Traditional Medicare

NEW YORK, May 21, 2024 — Today, the New York Appellate Division issued a unanimous decision holding that the City of New York cannot force its roughly 250,000 elderly and disabled retired municipal workers off of their longstanding Medicare insurance and onto an inferior type of insurance called “Medicare Advantage.” Unlike Medicare—a public program that has protected City retirees for the past 57 years—the City’s proposed new Medicare Advantage plan was a private, for-profit endeavor that would have limited retirees’ access to medical providers, prevented retirees from receiving care prescribed by their doctors, and exposed retirees to increased healthcare costs.

The Court confirmed what retirees have been arguing for months: that they are entitled to the healthcare they were promised for over 50 years. The Court wrote: “The City has made clear, consistent, unambiguous representations – oral and written – over the course of more than 50 years, that New York City municipal worker-retirees would have the option of receiving health care in the form of traditional Medicare with a City-paid supplemental plan. Consequently, the City cannot now mandate the proposed change eliminating that choice.”

Jake Gardener, a partner at Walden Macht & Haran LLP, counsel to the retirees, says, “We are grateful to the Court for recognizing the healthcare rights of retired City workers. Because of the Court’s thoughtful, well-reasoned decision, hundreds of thousands of senior citizens and disabled first responders will be able to receive the medical care they desperately need.”

Marianne Pizzitola, President of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, one of the lead plaintiffs, states, “Retired City workers dedicated, and in many cases risked, their lives for the City for relatively low pay. In return, they were promised certain basic healthcare benefits when they retired. The City’s attempt to break that 57-year promise is shameful and, as the Court ruled today, unlawful.”

Steve Cohen, a partner at Pollock Cohen LLP, also counsel to the retirees, says, “The City owes these retirees a debt of gratitude for their service. Instead, it has been trying to deny them the healthcare they were always promised. Fortunately, retirees fought back and they won.”

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We are Retired NYC Firefighters of all ranks. We meet five times per year at two locations; 901 Lakeville Road in New Hyde Park and 3051 Nostrand Ave in Brooklyn, NY. Through our Newsletter and this website we hope to keep you informed about your pensions.

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RETIRED MEMBER'S ASSOCIATION, INC
Fire Department, City of New York
ORGANIZED JANUARY 1ST, 1946

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The RETIRED small ribbon can be sewn on above your Left Shoulder FDNY Patch.

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They will only be sold at the Meetings. Please see Bill Schillinger at the Presentation Table at the Front of the Room at each meeting. See picture below for what they look like individually.

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See to your left The RETIRED RIBBON.

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Retired Member's Association,
Fire Dept.City of NY

OUR NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY JUNE 24th @ Our New Hyde Park Location-7:00pm

New York’s Highest Court Hears Final Arguments in Medicare Advantage Case

RALLY FOR THE NEW HEALTHCARE BILL; 1096

WE NEED TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE-

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WE WIN AGAIN! THANKS MARIANNE!

Today's Ruling Requires the City to Pay the Entire Cost of Retirees' Preferred Health Insurance

Come On Now, Time to Donate!

MARIANNE PIZZITOLA LEADS THE CITY HALL RALLY

PICTURES FROM THE RALLY @ CITY HALL & THE MARCH TO CVS

America’s Seniors are gonna get screwed for Wall Street’s growing disenchantment with MAP

https://hc4us.org/americas-seniors-are-about-to-pay-a-high-price-for-wall-streets-growing-disenchantment-with-medicare-advantage-health-care-un-covered/

UPDATES TO THE MEDICARE DIS-ADVANTAGE PROPOSAL

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

UPCOMING EVENTS / RALLYS

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

DONATIONS NEEDED!

A CO-PAY WIN FOR THE CITY

DONATIONS NEEDED!

PRESS RELEASE FROM NYC RETIREES:

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Download The 2024/25 RMA Application:

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