Op-Ed | Keeping our promise to NYC retirees: The City Council’s duty to defend healthcare rights

On Memorial Day 2022, Gary Bent’s world shattered. After decades of service as a professor at the University of Connecticut, Gary learned that his melanoma had returned, accompanied by a blood clot in his brain. Surgery was his only option. Like so many public retirees across the country, Gary had been forced off his Medicare and onto a Medicare Advantage plan—a decision that would have devastating consequences.

Following the operation, Gary faced a long road to recovery. His doctors recommended transfer to a skilled rehab facility, but his Medicare Advantage plan denied the request, declaring it “unnecessary” for his recovery, leaving Gary and his family without the care he critically needed.

After being denied by Medicare Advantage two more times, Gary was brought home. Within hours he fell ill with a bacterial infection, and weeks later, Gary passed away. A public servant denied healthcare and left to die.

Just last week, Dr. Oz was nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and could lead the charge, using the Project 2025 manual, to force seniors to change their healthcare to a system filled with red tape like restrictive networks and prior authorization requirements. New York City should not be fast-tracking this key part of Project 2025, which aims to make Medicare Advantage the default healthcare option for Americans at age 65, effectively privatizing Medicare. We cannot allow this plan to undermine Traditional Medicare, a literal lifeline for hundreds of thousands of seniors in New York City. For our city’s retirees, who rely on affordable, accessible healthcare, this national project poses a direct threat to their well-being, so it is even more important to enshrine these protections into law now.

Doctors, Congressmembers, State representatives, healthcare advocates, and seniors have been sounding the alarm on Medicare Advantage for years. In spite of this, Mayor Eric Adams is on the verge of forcing hundreds of thousands of City retirees onto this restrictive, and at times fatal, privatized health insurance plan. Retirees, who have been receiving Traditional Medicare since 1967, are at risk of losing their promised healthcare by an administration that cares more about enriching insurance companies than caring for the retired workers who built and supported this city.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The New York City Council has a long history of stepping up to protect retirees and workers from harmful policies. Over the decades, the Council legislated protections to ensure that retirees could rely on robust healthcare benefits. The City Council has also repeatedly stood up against policies that undermine our values and the well-being of our residents. When Mayor Adams resisted expanding CityFHEPS vouchers to help tenants, the Council fought back. When he defunded our city agencies with budget cuts, we fought back and got many of those cuts restored. And in response to his stance on transparency with the How Many Stops Act, we pushed for greater police accountability.

So why aren’t we fighting back now? If ever there was a time to defend our retirees’ healthcare, it’s today. By passing legislation that secures access to Traditional Medicare, we ensure that current and future NYC retirees won’t lose the freedom to choose healthcare that meets their needs.

If Democrats are supposed to be the party for the working class, at the very least we owe it to our city’s retirees to keep the promises we made and not subject them to the same tragic outcome that Gary’s family had to endure. These are retirees who dedicated their lives to keeping New York City running, from teachers and firefighters to transit workers and sanitation staff. They earned their benefits, and they should not have to sacrifice their health or their savings in retirement.

The City Council must act to protect retirees from being forced into privatized Medicare Advantage plans. This issue is not just about dollars and cents; it’s about dignity, fairness, and our city’s responsibility to its workers. Together, we can show that New York City stands with its retirees by passing Intro 1096-2024, preserving their right to quality healthcare and honoring the commitments that make our city strong.