Manhattan judge strikes down NYC's plan to force retired city workers to pay to keep insurance they were promised for life
NEW YORK -- There was a major victory Thursday for 250,000 retired city workers.
A Manhattan judge struck down New York City's plan to alter their health benefits and make them pay to keep the the insurance they were promised for life. CBS2's Marcia Kramer first exposed the city's efforts to disenfranchise its workers last year.
A handful of retired workers stood outside the gates of City Hall to bask in the glow of a hard won, David-over-Goliath victory over former Mayor Bill de Blasio and his successor Eric Adams.
"You know, there's an expression that you can't fight city hall. They did and they won," retirees' lawyer Steve Cohen said.
Cohen was referring to a decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank that prevents the city from pulling a bait and switch with the health insurance of 250,000 retirees. The city wanted to switch them to a less expensive program or force them to pay nearly $1,200 a year to keep their old insurance.
The judge said that while the city could offer the less expensive program, it couldn't charge people to stay in the old program because they were promised health benefits for life.
In his ruling, the judge said the city "is permanently enjoined from passing along any costs of the New York City retirees' current plan to the retirees."
"New York City cannot take away their health insurance in retirement. They are allowed to keep the subsidy that the city has paid for the last 40 years and keep their doctors and their medical care that they've earned over their many years of service," Cohen said.
When CBS2 first broke the story, Kramer reported on the difficult choice faced by people like former NYCHA employee Bill Shenton and his wife, Susan, who said they would be forced to pay money they can ill-afford to stay in the old plan because the new one would cover only a fraction of the medicine Susan takes for chronic lung disease. One drug alone costs $130,000 a year.
"I feel like it's a betrayal. We were told we'd have the same insurance that we had when we were working and it would cover our family," Shenton said.
"We are so grateful that we will not have to pay the $192 penalty every month, which we cannot afford," retiree Sarah Shapiro said.
"Good, quality, free medical insurance is a human right for everyone," retiree Gloria Bram said.
The retirees called on Mayor Adams not to appeal the judge's ruling, but it's not clear what the city will do. A spokesman for the mayor said the city is reviewing the decision and "evaluating our options."
In a surprise development, the United Federation of Teachers, which had enthusiastically supported moving retirees to a new, cheaper plan, withdrew its support for the move. Union President Michael Mulgrew called on the Municipal Labor Council to suspend efforts to start the new program until all implementation and legal issues are resolved.