MULGREW MISINFORMATION ON HEALTHCARE EXPOSED

Marianne Pizzitola is the President of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees. She also heads the FDNY EMS Retirees.

Marianne is leading the fight to preserve municipal worker retiree health benefits. She knows one of her main adversaries is UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

Marianne put out a rebuttal to Mulgrew's latest email to retirees on healthcare:

Please watch this video Marianne posted last Friday where she explains the Mulgrew lies:

The plan to change the City Council Code is being fought by retiree groups trying to preserve a choice of premium free healthcare plans. On Wednesday, they will be at City Hall and then later outside the UFT Delegate Assembly.

In this video, Marianne explains Administrative Code 12-126:

In 2021, a judge ruled making healthcare savings on the backs of retirees by making couples pay an almost $400-a-month penalty to keep GHI Seniorcare or go into Medicare Advantage (Mulgrewcare) was illegal. The city is appealing but they know they don't have much of a chance unless they can change the law. Mulgrew and company are trying to change city Administrative Code 12-126 to limit premium-free healthcare choices. Mulgrewcare will then most likely be imposed first on retirees, and later they will do the same to active city workers. It will be managed care or big premiums.

Mulgrew is supposed to represent UFTers. It makes no sense for him to bargain away free healthcare options because UFTers are guaranteed by contract to have a choice of premium free healthcare plans:

3G. Health Insurance and Welfare Fund Benefits

 1. Choice of Health Plans 

The Board agrees to arrange for, and make available to each day school teacher, a choice of health and hospital insurance coverage from among designated plans and the Board agrees to pay the full cost of such coverage. 

It says "Choice of Health Plans," and then it states that "the Board agrees to pay the full cost of such coverage."

This will most definitely impact active UFTers because by law limiting retiree choice of free plans will require a similar reduction in benefits to be imposed on active UFTers.

This is from NYSTRS:

While there is no guarantee that retirees in the state have the same coverage as active employees, the state Legislature prohibits school districts and BOCES from unilaterally diminishing retiree health insurance coverage unless a similar reduction is negotiated for active employees. 

Mulgrew is coming to limit everyone's choice of premium free healthcare choices.

What should happen?

Mulgrew should be calling for gains so all other city workers will have the guarantees UFTers have by contract and law that he is eagerly attempting to bargain away. The MLC unions all need to admit they made a mistake by agreeing to recurring healthcare savings of $600 million a year in recurring savings in 2018 and use the 2021 court ruling to negate that clause of the 2018 contracts as the clause runs contrary to law. Instead, the unions are attempting to change the law so round 2 of Mulgrewcare can be imposed where Aetna will be the only free option. The same Aetna that the NY Times reported on their overbilling practices recently: "CVS Health, which owns Aetna, told investors its practices were being investigated by the Department of Justice." Active UFTers and non-Medicare eligible retirees will be next.

We knew major healthcare givebacks were coming. This is part of what we wrote in opposing the 2018 UFT Contract:

    Healthcare givebacks are for all of us in this contract, not just new teachers. 

The Municipal Labor Committee agreed to huge healthcare savings in June. This is from the City Hall Website article on the new UFT contract: “The agreement will provide total health care savings of $1.1 billion through Fiscal Year 2021 and $1.9 billion of annual savings thereafter.” Putting new teachers on HIP managed care for their first year, which is a major contractual concession as our contract says the city has to offer us a choice of free health plans, will not save the city $1.1 billion or $1.9 billion annually after 2021 as the city will still be paying their health insurance. Where are the new $1.1 billion in healthcare savings ($600 million must recur annually) going to come from? They will come from all city workers just like when we agreed to this kind of deal in 2014 to settle a contract and then in 2016 we received emails saying Emergency Room copays would rise from $50 to $150 and Urgent Care copays in GHI would go from $15 to $50. More to come like possibly tiered hospitals where we would have to pay more to go to certain facilities. The UFT is not being completely up front about our out of pocket costs probably rising. Why not?  The letter from the city Office of Labor Relations will become part of the UFT Memorandum of Agreement.  Even though the MLC negotiates healthcare for city employees, UFT members have the final say with our vote on whether to accept this huge concession as part of the contract.

The givebacks were easy to see but even I didn't think they were going to go after the Medicare eligible retirees first and then come after everyone else.