Mayor Adams announced Friday that his administration will not “at this time” shift the city government’s retired workforce into a cost-cutting Medicare Advantage plan — a move that comes after a recent win that followed years fighting in court to enact the program.
The reversal came on the heels of the State Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week that Adams’ administration could, in fact, move forward with enrolling the city’s roughly 250,000 municipal retirees in the controversial Medicare Advantage plan. The green light from the top court came after lower courts had blocked Adams from implementing the plan, ruling that local law requires that municipal retirees be offered traditional Medicare coverage.
In a statement announcing he’s not moving forward with the plan, Adams said he is “grateful” for the Court of Appeals’ ruling and argued it set “an important precedent that will allow the city to modify plans in response to evolving conditions.”
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Barry Willilams/for New York Daily News New York municipal retirees protest changes to their Medicare in Lower Manhattan on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)
But Adams — who has for years maintained the Advantage plan would provide retirees with adequate health care and save the city hundreds of millions of dollars per year — said his team has also “heard concerns from retirees about these potential changes at numerous older adult town halls and public events.”
“And our administration remains focused on ensuring that New York City remains an affordable place to live,” Adams’ statement continued. “Thankfully, we have found other ways to address health care costs while providing quality health care coverage for our city’s workers, and we have decided not to move forward with the Medicare Advantage plan at this time.”
The mayor added he has informed municipal union leaders that his administration is “pursuing other avenues for improving health care for city workers that will provide even better outcomes.”
His statement did not elaborate on what those other avenues are or identify the alternative means for cost savings. It also didn’t say if Adams — who is facing a difficult path to reelection this year amid continued fallout from his corruption indictment — might still implement the plan at a later point.
His spokespeople did not immediately return a request for additional details.
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
New York municipal retirees protest changes to their Medicare in Lower Manhattan on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)
The reversal follwos several years fighting in court.
First proposed by ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio during his final days in office in 2021, Adams continued the effort as soon as he took office on Jan. 1, 2022, arguing the plan would improve insurance coverage for retirees and save the city some $500 million annually due to the way in which Advantage plans are administered by private insurers. Currently, municipal retirees get traditional Medicare coverage, consisting of the universal federal program accompanied by a city-subsidized supplement.
A group of retired city workers have been firmly opposed to the switch and sued Adams shortly after he took office, alleging the Advantage plan would diminish their health care coverage in violations local administrative laws. Until this week’s Court of Appeals ruling, judges had sided with the retirees in that legal battle and prohibited Adams from rolling out the plan.
Marianne Pizzitola, a former FDNY EMS who leads the retiree group that sued Adams and has been deeply critical of him, said she’s thrilled the mayor had a change of heart.
“The mayor always said he would ‘land this plane’ and we are glad he has,” Pizzitola told the Daily News, invoking a phrase the mayor frequently uses. “We are really appreciative of the labor leaders who supported us in our darkest days, and every single politician who endorsed our movement.”
The mayor’s change comes after the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s powerful main Department of Education union, said after this week’s Court of Appeals ruling that it would seek to block him from implementing the privatized plan if he tried.
Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who is polling as the favorite to replace Adams as mayor next year, has committed that he would, if elected, kill any Advantage plan the incumbent might try to implement.
The city government’s retired workforce is considered a key political constituency as they tend to vote in local elections in large numbers. Facing low approval ratings, Adams has dropped out of next week’s Democratic mayoral primary and is instead seeking reelection as an independent in November’s general election.
