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I was one of the more than 200 NYC public service retirees who testified at the Jan. 9 City Council hearing on a possible amendment to the municipal code.
The Council thankfully did not alter the code, basically preserving our traditional Medicare choice.
The hearing was an all-day and into-the-night event, allowing everyone to testify. I stayed the entire time. Nearly all of the retirees spoke in favor of preserving Admin Code 12-126 and those who sought the change did so because they feared being forced into a Medicare Advantage Plan, even though it would cost them an additional $200 a month ($400 for a couple).
By enacting the nuclear option and forcing retirees into a substandard plan, Mayor Eric Adams has made it financially radioactive to opt out.
Aetna Senior Vice President Rick Frommeyer, as quoted by the news site Gothamist, suggested that the low number of opt-outs indicates that “despite the noise about Medicare Advantage plans, retirees overwhelmingly like what they see in our plan.”
No, Mr. Frommeyer, we do not like what we see.
Jack La Torre
The writer is a retired NYPD lieutenant
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nino.h.fernandez
A fair solution would be to have some of that 600M go towards paying for improperly denied care as determined by an independent ombudsman with a medical background and no ties to the insurance industry. Let the city sue Aetna to get it back, or just reduce payment to Aetna.
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Report this