NYC Council ‘lukewarm’ on Mayor Adams’ push to change city law as part of Medicare Advantage battle: sources

Mayor Adams and municipal labor union leaders are running into resistance from the City Council over their last-ditch effort to enroll tens of thousands of retired municipal workers in a controversial, privatized Medicare plan, according to several sources directly familiar with the matter.

First proposed by ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city has since last fall tried to move the city’s roughly 250,000 municipal retirees into a so-called Medicare Advantage Plan. The impetus is that the Advantage plan would save the city hundreds of millions of dollars annually because, unlike traditional Medicare, it’d be administered by a private insurance provider.

But a Manhattan Supreme Court judge blocked the city’s Advantage plan this spring, ruling that its proposal to slap a $191 monthly penalty on retirees who want to stay on traditional Medicare ran afoul of a local law requiring the city to give its workers free health coverage for life.

In a bid to sidestep the ruling, Adams’ administration teamed up last month with the Municipal Labor Committee in asking the Council to amend the law in question so it’d become legal for the city to financially penalize retirees who opt out of the Advantage plan.

That request is gaining little traction in the Council, however, City Hall and labor sources tell the Daily News.

On Sept. 21, the MLC, which represents the city’s various public sector unions, privately pitched dozens of Council Democrats on why they should tweak the law, known as Administrative Code 12-126, in order to pave the way for Medicare Advantage. The presentation — given by MLC Chairman Harry Nespoli, DC37 boss Henry Garido and other labor brass — didn’t elicit any outright support from Council members, according to four sources present for the meeting.

“The response was lukewarm at best. Members seemed leery at what the unions leaders were selling,” said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the session.

In an interview this week, Nespoli acknowledged members didn’t seem overly enthusiastic but said his presentation was only meant as a first step. “They weren’t emotionally upset about it, but they weren’t emotionally in favor of it, either,” he said.

For a 12-126 amendment to even be considered by the Council, a member must introduce it on behalf of Adams and the MLC. So far, no members have expressed interest in doing so, according to Council sources.

One of the only members at the Sept. 21 sit-down who seemed receptive to the MLC’s argument for securing savings was Manhattan Councilwoman Julie Menin, according to the sources at the meeting.

But Menin told The News her comments shouldn’t be interpreted as an endorsement of the 12-126 proposal.

“I didn’t speak in favor or against any proposed legislation. Rather, I acknowledged the fact that health care premiums are costing the city approximately $10 billion each fiscal year, and I am working on a package on hospital transparency to address that,” Menin said.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens), who attended the MLC presentation, declined to comment. A spokesman for the mayor also declined to comment.

The MLC and the mayor have argued the savings inherent in Medicare Advantage could hedge against a city budget deficit that could grow as large as $10 billion by 2026. Without Advantage, supporters have said, the city may have to slash other services.

But the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, whose lawsuit prompted this spring’s Manhattan Supreme Court decision, has maintained Advantage would wreck their benefits. The group has pointed to federal studies showing Advantage can put beneficiaries at risk of losing out on “medically necessary care,” and more than 65,000 retired workers had opted out of the city’s plan as of July before enrollment paused because of litigation.

More than 100 retirees gathered outside City Hall on Wednesday to urge Council members to put the kibosh on the 12-126 request. “They need to hear us, and they need to protect us,” said Marianne Pizzitola, a retired EMT who founded the retiree group.

Meantime, opposition to changing 12-126 is mounting inside city unions due to concerns that go beyond Medicare Advantage.

FDNY Local 2507 President Oren Barzilay, who was among 11 unions in the MLC that voted against asking the Council to amend 12-126, said he’s worried adjusting the law could hurt active municipal workers, too.

The law enshrines free health care for all municipal workers, “and by changing it, the city wouldn’t have to follow that anymore and can start saying at the bargaining table, ‘We don’t want to,’” said Barzilay, whose union represents EMTs. “It could impact everybody.”

Nespoli said such concerns are overblown and argued focus must be on cutting costs. “There has to be change,” he said. “And if not, what’s plan B? There is no plan B.”