NYC judge puts a temporary halt to retiree healthcare privatization. A win.
On Friday a Manhattan judge put the kibosh, at least temporarily, on plan to push New York City government retirees into a privatized version of Medicare.
It’s a big win.
The City and the union leadership (Yes. I’m looking at you, teacher union president Michael Mulgrew) have conspired to move municipal retirees, including teacher retirees, from their existing coverage which is a combination of traditional Medicare with supplemental coverage paid for by the city – onto a private Medicare Advantage plan run by Aetna this fall.
This is the exact same plan retired teachers must pay for in Illinois.
The deadline to opt out was supposed to be today, but retirees who decided to stay on traditional Medicare would have had to waive their city benefits and pay for their health coverage themselves.
On Friday, Judge Lyle Frank granted retirees’ petition to temporarily block the transition while the case is pending in court.
“As this matter deals with health decisions of an aging and a potentially vulnerable population, mostly on fixed incomes, any lapse in care for these people could lead to deleterious impacts,” Frank stated in his order.
Jonathan has more about it here.
And Norm has news here.