Organization Representing Retired City Workers Slams Mayor Adams on Health Insurance Betrayal

Organization Representing Retired City Workers Slams Mayor Adams on Health Insurance Betrayal

Retirees Respond to Mayor Adams Announcement

Edited by: TJVNews.com

On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams announced he registered the Aetna Medicare Advantage Contract after Comptroller Brad Lander refused to register it. The New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees finds this irresponsible.  The Mayor accuses the Comptroller of spreading “confusion and misinformation.”  The only “confusion and misinformation” has come from City Hall, according to the organization.  For over a year, the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees has made repeated attempts to meet with the Mayor to come to a resolution to honor the decades of service selflessly rendered by retired public servants. The organization has said that the mayor has never agreed to discuss how this plan will harm the retired city employees.

Doctors, Physicians, and several healthcare treatment facilities have conveyed to the tens of thousands of retirees that they will not accept the Medicare Advantage Plan being forced upon them by the Mayor, which has subsequently led to them to initiating a recent lawsuit against the city and the rejection of the contract by City Comptroller Brad Lander.

For the first time, retired city workers will be subject to prior authorization for medication and medical procedures decided by a for-profit and privately managed healthcare company, CVS/Aetna. For years, several studies have shown higher rejection rates of much-needed services for seniors who have switched into a Medicare Advantage Plan. The organization has said that “this is not hearsay, misinformation, or lies – it’s just the facts.”

As another example, in 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid reduced the reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage private insurers, and when this inevitably happens again, retired New York City public servants will see increased costs and decreased services, as was reported by the organization representing their interests.

According to Marianne Pizzitola, the President of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees and the FDNY EMS Retirees Association, “The plan we were promised when serving our city for decades did not force us to lose our doctors, physicians, or healthcare treatment facilities. Moreover, there were no additional or extenuating costs or caps on needed medical care. The Mayor is wrong to say we are “confused” or “fearful of change.” As true public servants to our city, we want the benefit we were promised and not be forced into inferior managed privatized Medicare that our healthcare providers will not accept. “

She recalled that Mayor Adams had previously stated that , “You can’t balance the budget on the backs of those who served the City.”  She added that, “Unfortunately, that is what he has decided to do. We were lied to when we entered into a contract serving this city, and when Eric Adams was a candidate, he called it the ultimate “bait and switch.” Today, he is at the helm of that switch.”