Solve insurance issue at City Hall

To the editor:

(re: “City made a promise to our workers, and they must keep it,” Aug. 24)

I welcome Councilman Eric Dinowitz’s staunch opposition to the mayor’s and the municipal labor committee’s attempts to force New York City retirees to switch to a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan. 

After two years of legal battles in the state courts, the retirees represented by the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees has been victorious in at least three cases. 

I am happy to see that Councilman Dinowitz is “thrilled that the courts have ruled in favor of the retirees.”

For now, retirees continue to have their paid-for Medicare supplement plan as an option.

But the battle goes on with appeals by the mayor to try to win this battle. It is indeed unfortunate that retirees have to spend their hard-earned money from their savings, retirement plan income and Social Security checks to fund this litigation and the never-ending appeals by the city.

To that end, there is now a bill before the City Council — Int. 1099, originally sponsored by Councilman Charles Barron and co-signed by at least 17 of his colleagues — to end this travesty. The bill proposes to guarantee New York City retirees traditional Medicare and a Medicare supplement, equivalent to what they already had as an option prior to this entire debacle. 

This bill will not interfere with the city unions’ right to bargain on behalf of active workers. It will simply guarantee the Medicare supplement option to retirees who are not represented by the unions because of the Taylor Law and the Collective Bargaining Law.

I welcome Councilman Dinowitz’s support of this bill in the City Council and trust he will join his colleagues in support of New York City retirees who have been promised this benefit for more than 50 years — and earned this benefit, and deserve this benefit. 

Councilman, please sign onto Int. 1099.

Carl Aylman

The author is a CUNY employee