The Office of Labor Relations posted the Municipal Labor Committee’s memorandum to retirees on Medicare who receive their benefits from a union welfare plan, not the Management Benefits Fund. Letter is available here.
Several managerial retirees have raised questions regarding their drug coverage under the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus Plan. Please note that these questions apply to managerial retirees who receive benefits through the Management Benefits Fund (MBF) and who do NOT receive any drug benefits through a union plan.
The MEA posed three specific questions to the Office of Labor Relations and received the following responses and clarification:
1) If a managerial retiree on Medicare who is currently enrolled in Emblem Health’s Pharmacy Plan RxGrp GH3A is converting to Medicare Advantage Plus (MAP), do they have to take any other action to continue receiving these benefits when their Medicare Parts A and B coverage are changed to MAP?
OLR answer: If any member who has the optional rider and converts to the new NYC MA Plus Plan this will automatically convert to the NYC MA Plus Plan with the optional rider, the member does not need to do anything.
2) If a managerial retiree on Medicare who is currently enrolled in Emblem Health’s Pharmacy Plan RxGrp GH3A is opting out of Medicare Advantage Plus and remaining in GHI Senior Care, do they have to take any other action to continue receiving these benefits after the implementation of MAP?
OLR answer: If any member who has opted out of the NYC MA Plus Plan then the member will remain in their current health plan and the member does not need to do anything since they have opted out.
3) What actions does a managerial retiree on Medicare currently receiving Aetna or HIP benefits have to take to preserve their existing pharmacy benefits if they opt out of MAP? Are converted to MAP?
OLR Answer: Please refer to answer 1 and 2.
If an MEA member receives drug benefits through a union welfare fund (for instance, a spouse’s plan), they should contact the specific union for clarification.