This is a BFD, and not in a good way. Most of you already know the problems with Medicare Advantage, so when New York City’s public union bosses sign off on making the privatized version of Medicare the only health insurance option available for the city’s retired workforce, well, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. Via the New York Daily News:
The stamp of approval from the Municipal Labor Committee, which is made up of reps for all local public sector unions, clears the way for Mayor Adams’ administration to eliminate SeniorCare, the city-funded supplement to traditional Medicare, as a choice for the city’s roughly 250,000 retired workers.
In its place, the administration will offer a Medicare Advantage Plan managed by private health insurance giant Aetna as the only premium-free coverage available for municipal retirees. The administration has for months maintained the Advantage plan will provide retirees with robust coverage while saving the city hundreds of millions of dollars per year thanks to increased federal subsidies — and Municipal Labor Committee leaders have sided with that argument.
However, support for Advantage was not unanimous during Thursday morning’s vote, which took place in a private virtual meeting, a recording of which the Daily News obtained.
In the session, 26 of the MLC’s unions voted against adopting the measure, citing concerns from thousands of retirees who fear their access to care would be diminished under an Advantage plan, in part because of preauthorization protocols required by Aetna for certain medical procedures and medicines. Retirees have also pointed to federal studies that say Advantage plans can delay or deny “medically necessary care.”
The plan still passed, though, because the vote was weighted.
Mayor Eric Adams, who as we know, is both a political blowhard and a jackass, said he believes Aetna’s coverage is better than traditional Medicare, referencing the Advantage plan’s caps on deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses as well as new benefits for transportation, fitness and wellness.
Where do those benefits come from, Mayor Adams? From cutting actual medical coverage, of course!
Oren Barzilay, president of the FDNY union representing uniformed EMTs, paramedics and fire inspectors, said retired members of his union have been told by Aetna that its Advantage plan doesn’t cover certain medicines to the same degree traditional Medicare does.
Of course. City retirees are going to learn an unpleasant lesson.
