ADAMS PUSHED TO AX RETIREE PLAN
Lander sees no point after ruling, but city appealing
Comptroller Brad Lander has urged Mayor Adams to back off an effort to shift tens of thousands of retired municipal workers onto a new Medicare plan, making him the highest-ranking city official to oppose the controversial health insurance shakeup, the Daily News has learned.
In a letter dated Monday, Lander’s office told the mayor’s team that there’s no sense in implementing the new Medicare Advantage Plan considering a Manhattan Supreme Court justice ruled last week that a key component of it is illegal.
“In light of the court decision ... we ask that the Office of Labor Relations strongly consider withdrawing its contract,” read the letter, which was signed by Deputy Comptroller Charlette Hamamgian and obtained by The News via a Freedom of Information Law request.
Adams’ administration sent over the Medicare Advantage Plan contract to Lander’s office on Feb. 28 — and Hamamgian noted in her missive that the comptroller has 30 days to review whether it’s up to legal and fiscal snuff. As comptroller, Lander has the authority to refuse to register contracts under certain limited circumstances.
A spokesman for Adams declined to comment Tuesday.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank ruled Thursday that the Adams administration cannot slap a $191 monthly penalty on retired workers who want to stay on their current Medicare coverage instead of being automatically enrolled in the Advantage plan.
The penalty — which would apply to both plan holders and dependents — violates longstanding local administrative law, which holds that the city must offer its retirees premium-free health care for life, Frank ruled.
Frank’s decision dealt a major blow to the Medicare Advantage effort. The city began attempting to switch its retirees on to it last year because it would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in savings per year thanks to a larger influx of federal funding. Without the penalty, the savings would likely not be realized, as there would be no disincentive for retirees to remain on their current coverage.
Still, Adams’ administration has not given up and filed court papers late Friday affirming its plans to appeal Frank’s ruling.
The Advantage plan was first rolled out by former Mayor Bill de Blasio last year, and Adams has echoed his predecessor’s argument that health benefits for the city’s roughly 250,000 retirees would remain strong under
the new coverage.
But the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, a group of retired cops, firefighters and other ex-municipal workers, has poured cold water on the city’s claim and filed a lawsuit last year that prompted Frank’s ruling. The retirees have contended that the Advantage plan would shortchange them by, among other issues, instituting new preauthorization protocols for certain medical procedures.
Steve Cohen, an attorney for the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said he hopes Lander’s thumb on the scale will motivate Adams to drop his administration’s appeal effort.
“It’s terrific. I think he’s suggesting the right thing — that the mayor go back to the drawing board,” Cohen said of the letter from Lander’s office. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Concerns about the Medicare Advantage plan have been a significant source of anxiety for many retired city workers.
According to data provided by Adams’ administration, at last count 45,646 retirees had opted out to stay on their current coverage as of Feb. 14, even though the $191 monthly penalty was still on the table at that stage.
Since Frank’s ruling, the administration has declined to provide an updated tally for how many retirees have opted out of the Advantage plan.