Please contact City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams and insist that she schedule a public hearing on Intro. 1096. A hearing is the next step toward ratification of this critically important legislation. Adoption of Intro. 1096 into the NYC Administrative Code will codify the preservation of traditional Medicare and the choice of a Medicare supplemental insurance plan for current and future retirees. You can call, email, or even better, both! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Following are the office phone numbers for Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: 212-482-6731; 718-206-2068; 718-307-5759
It is likely that you will either reach a staff member or a voicemail greeting.
If so, we recommend that you keep things simple and say something like: My name is _____ _____ and I am a City of New York employee/retiree. I live at _________________ and my (phone # or email address) is __________. I’m calling to ask that the Council Speaker schedule a Public Hearing on Intro. 1096, the bill that would preserve the option of traditional Medicare for current and retired public servants. Working for the City, this was promised to us. We live in a democracy, and we want our voices to be heard on this important issue.
For those who prefer to write, please email:
Hon. Adrienne Adams – AEAdams@council.nyc.gov; SpeakerAdams@council.nyc.gov
Feel free to use your own words or modify the draft below:
[ date ]
Dear Speaker Adams,
My name is [ your name ] and I am a member of the NYC Managerial Employees Association (MEA). The MEA is the professional organization that advocates for NYC managerial and confidential employees, and retirees who are not subject to collective bargaining with the City of New York pursuant to the New York State Taylor Law. Recognized by the City Administration since inception in 1968, MEA is the only organization that represents these municipal employees and retirees. As a concerned constituent of the City Council, I respectfully request that you schedule a Public Hearing for Intro. 1096 of 2024.
I ask for your commitment to the NYC municipal workforce and retirees in their efforts to preserve and protect the option of retiree health insurance as existed on December 31, 2021 and proposed by Intro. 1096. Adoption of Intro. 1096 into the New York City Administrative Code will codify the preservation and protection of traditional Medicare and the choice of a Medicare supplemental insurance plan for current and future retirees. The City Council has legislated health care coverage for retirees since 1967 when Section 12-126 was added to the Administrative Code to codify the City’s obligation to provide premium-free health insurance for the municipal workforce, retirees, and their dependents.
I am opposed to the City and Municipal Labor Committee proposed Medicare Advantage Plan that would compromise and reduce access to health care services by eliminating traditional Medicare. Involuntary enrollment of retirees in an inferior for-profit Medicare Advantage Plan, whose primary goal is to satisfy its investors, is not in the best interest of most retirees’ health care needs. Health care is one of the most sacred and indispensable necessities required to sustain our lives. The quality of health care insurance and the performance of the insurer are of the utmost importance.
Many retirees are over seventy-five years of age and suffer from various diseases, life-compromising illnesses, mental and physical disabilities; some may be bedridden. Established medical professionals, medical institutions, and health care facilities that accept traditional Medicare insurance for their services, may not accept Medicare Advantage insurance. The proposed involuntary transfer from traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan is impractical and unconscionable – it has created unwarranted anxiety and confusion in not knowing the status of health insurance and prescription drug coverage. Enactment of the Medicare Advantage Plan would exhibit appalling disregard and disrespect for the civil servants who have provided unwavering dedication throughout their decades of public service to the City of New York.
I respectfully request that you permit Intro.1096 to expeditiously proceed through the City Council procedures for approval of the proposed amendment to the NYC Administrative Code. It is requested that a public hearing be scheduled, Your attention to this matter as well as your support for Intro. 1096 is greatly appreciated. Please preserve and protect retiree health insurance that was promised by the New York City government and earned by dedicated public service to the City.
Sincerely,
[ your name & address ]
Finally, YO ADRIENNE! Here is a really fun video posted by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees that explains what we need Council Speaker Adams to do and why.
Thank you for your continuing efforts, MEA members!
