LATEST FROM MARIANNE ON PRESERVING RETIREE HEALTHCARE

 

Greetings Retirees & Retirees In Training!    We learned last week that the MLC will be holding an emergency meeting to hear a presentation by AETNA Medicare Advantage on March 2nd.  We KNOW, they and the City MUST agree according to the 1992 MLC Health Agreement, before anything can change.  So if they eliminate plans, or force us into one plan, it is because they did in fact agree.   Of course they will try to say, "The MAYOR did it!" or "The ARBTRATOR said to!"   But we know the truth.  They are doing it because they agreed to the 2014 and 2018 MLC Health Savings Agreements.   Retirees did not do that.  MONDAY HOMEWORK! TWO EMAIL CAMPAIGNS! DO BOTH OF THESE EVERY DAY!   MAKE THEM HEAR YOU!    ONE!!!!! We will begin to call and email them DAILY & CALL YOUR FORMER UNION AS WELL! DC37: Henry Garrido 212-815-1500, 212-815-1511 UFT: Michael Mulgrew or Tom Murphy 212-777-7500 Sanitation Local 831: Harry Nespoli 212-964-8900 Sanitation Local 444 Officers Joe Mannion 718 837-9832 Local 237 Greg Floyd (212) 924-1989 CSA: Mark Cannizzaro 212-823-2020   NYC Mayor – In NYC 311 if calling from outside NYC 212-639-9675 Jumaane Williams – 212-669-7250 Copy paste the email addresses below; they are for Michael Mulgrew, Tom Murphy, Henry Garrido, Greg Floyd, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, The Mayor’s Office at City Hall, and Alan Klinger the attorney for the MLC and Labor Chair of the Tripartite Committee. Be polite, be professional! We urge you to maintain our cost free supplemental plan and Traditional Medicare. We earned and paid for our benefits – our supplemental plan only covers 20% of our insurance. Medicare retirees cost to the City is less than 6 tenths of 1% of the City budget. The Unions are free to negotiate their own healthcare, but leave a current retirees alone! Medicare Advantage is not accepted by 25% of the doctors in America, has prior authorizations, cannot be combined with other insurances and OLR wants to create a panel to review the delays and denials of care that are known to happen in Medicare Advantage because the insurer is for profit – this is inferior to our current insurance. Currently, AETNA is under investigation by the DOJ for Medicare fraud, and if that isn’t bad enough, CM Barron testified in the January 9th hearing that AETNA sold slave insurance to slave owners before Emancipation. He said, “I would never…ever support AETNA getting a contract from the government because this is the same company that provided insurance to slave holders during the enslavement period and when we took them to court, they admitted it and said, ‘we did it’ and that was it.” “So we shouldn’t be doing business with a corporation like AETNA that was engaged in the slave trade in the slave era.” Sign your name, agency retired from and year EMAILS: ADD YOUR FORMER UNION TO THIS LIST! Copy/paste these into your email! Mmulgrew@uft.org, tmurphy@uft.org, HAgarrido@dc37.net, gfloyd@local237.org, stateoftheunion@dc37.net, gethelp@advocate.nyc.gov, GMiranda@cityhall.nyc.gov, aklinger@stroock.com ***************************************** TWO!!! This is the second email to send! Click this LINK to the MAYORS Office and Send him the following: https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/mayor-contact.page Message Topic: Quality of Life Dear Mayor Adams: My name is ________________________and I am a former employee of ___________________(name of where you worked). I served my time in government for over __________years as a ________________________(name of position). I am a retiree that cannot afford to spend extra money. I am on a fixed income that is based on a monthly pension. Please do not force me into a plan that is not going to help me stay alive. Not all doctors accept Medicare Advantage Medicare Advantage Plans regardless of it being a PPO. And we do not have prior authorizations now and should not have to deal with that process when we are older and ill. Traditional Medicare does not and we don't need more stress! Please do not place me or my fellow retirees into a plan that will strip us of our dignity and life. Do not let the Unions convince you that this is the best option, they do not represent us. You call yourself the Mayor for the people, please consider yourself as a Mayor for the great seniors, who gave their time to serve this great city and sit with us. If you have to move forward with a Medicare Advantage Plan against our pleas, then all we can ask is that you grandfather all of the current retirees in our current plan. No change or added cost unto us. Thank you! Xxx ALSO!!!    WE HAVE A NEW PO BOX FOR DONATIONS!   PLEASE SEE BELOW!! AND YES IT IS IN GEORGIA AND GOES STRAIGHT TO OUR ACCOUNTANT IN A SECURED BOX! WE ARE GROWING!! If you are on Twitter and Instagram, please comment and share our messages. We also created an OPEN FaceBook Page https://www.facebook.com/NYCRetirees And Please send your donations in to continue this fight!  We have THREE lawsuits running concurrently, and if the Mayor eliminates all health plans, we WILL have a 4th!!  See below if you donate via VENMO, we changed our name.  It Wasn't Me Tell the Active workers, DO NOT RATIFY YOUR CONTRACT UNTIL YOU READ IT!   The last time they had a contract, they did not know the unions put an appendix that reduced their healthcare and increased copays.  A message for Anthony Wells DC37 Local 371 and Gloria Middleton CWA 1180    *************************** Your friends, and retirees in SOLIDARITY... The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees   **************  Donations are Needed! If the Mayor pulls the "nuclear option" we will have 4 lawsuits going on at the same time!   TO DONATE TO THE ORGANIZATION Donation Instructions to Support Our Organization and our Fight To Protect Our Retiree Healthcare: We worked decades for our benefits! Let’s make sure the City and the MLC don’t take them away! A suggested $25 Donation* will help start the fight to keep our current benefits. *Give more if you can, and/or often!  If you cannot meet the minimum suggested donation, we appreciate whatever you can give towards this fight for our benefits.  We also added the option to make your donation recurring (monthly) as was requested.  We are incorporated as a Non-Profit, but not tax deductible. ALL proceeds go to fund the organization and its legal challenge. Volunteer retirees are running this effort.  TO DONATE, HERE ARE 4 SIMPLE WAYS! 1.Zelle using email NYCOrgofpublicserviceretirees@gmail.com YOU CANNOT USE THE ZELLE APP!   You must use Zelle via your online banking. In some cases you cannot use the Zelle via the bank app either.   So if you're finding trouble, use the computer and make the payment via Zelle from your online banking.  2. Make your check out to: NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees  c/o  JSH Accounting Services LLC PO Box 143538 Fayetteville, GA 30214 (this is the organization's accounting professional) 3. Or click on this Paypal link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=Q4VWJEYVJ9HTW&Z3&fbclid=IwAR0pEOc51x9xhc-CBb8vqAIkX97Bgg1Z02f1r9gQh9S3dOsVmAdob5jBbw8 4.  VENMO OUR Venmo Name changed!   Please take note!