The Chief Leader - Oct 31, 2025
City workers and retirees sue to block switch to self-funded health plan
A group of New York City employees and retirees has gone to court to block the Adams administration from moving hundreds of thousands of municipal workers into a self-funded health plan.
The petitioners claim that instituting the plan would strip them of crucial legal protections and violate the city’s obligation to provide genuine health insurance coverage.
Empire Report - Oct 31, 2025
NYC workers, retirees sue to BLOCK shift to self-funded plan…
Becker’s - Oct 30, 2025
Lawsuit targets NYC health plan switch
New York City employees and retirees — coupled with advocacy group Hands Off NY Care — filed a lawsuit in response to the city’s expected transition to a self-funded health plan, according to an Oct. 29 court document.
The new plan, NYCE PPO, would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. It would be an “administrative services only” model, meaning the city would take on all risk and cover claims itself. UMR, under UnitedHealthcare, and EmblemHealth would act as contractors but only for administrative responsibilities.
“Rather than functioning as traditional insurers, UMR and EmblemHealth would assume none of the legal or financial obligations of a state-regulated insurance carrier and would instead rely entirely on the city’s fiscal capacity to fund and pay medical claims. Thus, no ‘insurance’ is provided under the new plan,” the filing said. “It would not be bound by key statutory and regulatory requirements that protect employees, retirees and their dependents.”
Crain's New York Business - Oct 30, 2025
City workers, retirees sue Adams administration over proposed health insurance switch
A group of workers and a recently formed advocacy group alleged that the city’s switch to a self-funded plan breaks the law.
amNew York - Oct 30, 2025
NYC workers, retirees sue to block City’s shift to self-funded health plan
A coalition of NYC workers, retirees, and an advocacy organization is suing to block a sweeping health-benefits restructuring that would reshape coverage for roughly 750,000 public-sector workers and retirees.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, challenges the city’s plan to replace its long-standing, insured health-care coverage with what the coalition calls an unlawful, self-funded model that would strip away protections guaranteed by state law.
Politico - Oct 29, 2025
Advocacy group sues New York City over planned insurance switch-up
Hands Off NY Care filed a petition Wednesday alleging the city doesn’t have the authority to implement a self-funded health plan.
The group’s petition, which was filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges New York City is not authorized to implement a self-funded health plan — a common arrangement under which employers pay claims themselves but hire an insurance company as the plan’s administrator.
The Chief - Oct 20, 2025
Unions, retirees push back on city’s healthcare plan. Lander asked to reject deal over secrecy, risks
A coalition of current and retired New York City employees, union leaders and former elected officials is urging city Comptroller Brad Lander to reject the city’s agreement with two major insurance firms to administer health benefits for more than 750,000 active and retired municipal workers and their families.
In a letter sent to Lander Monday, the group said the plan was developed through a “rushed and secretive process” and warned that it could undermine affordability, access to care and oversight of the city’s Health Benefits Stabilization Fund. The letter also calls for the public release of the full, unredacted contract and for union members to be given time to review and provide feedback before any approval moves forward.
Politico - Sept 30, 2025
Municipal Labor Committee approves new health insurance plan for city workers
The new PPO plan, which will be administered by EmblemHealth and UnitedHealthcare, is slated to go into effect Jan. 1.
But many key details were shrouded in secrecy ahead of Tuesday’s vote, POLITICO Pro previously reported.
amNew York - Sept 30, 2025
City’s public sector unions approve sweeping healthcare shift for 750,000 workers amid secrecy criticism
“We were not allowed to see the contract. Even the people who did see it saw only redacted versions,” said Wanda Williams, a retired DC 37 member and board member of Hands Off NY Care. “This is being done without a vote of the membership and without any consultation, and it is anti-union. City Hall is taking a huge risk with our health care, claiming that this new plan will deliver $1 billion in savings with no proof.”
“You cannot disengage your membership and tell them that what you’re doing on their behalf is good without sharing the information with them,” she told amNewYork, before expressing concern over the city’s choice of UnitedHealthcare to administer part of the plan, noting the risks of moving to a self-funded model.
THE CITY - Sept 30, 2025
City Unions OK Cost-Saving Health Plan Switch Despite Foggy Details
But the details of the current plan are unclear: union leaders were only given the opportunity to review a redacted version of the contract before Tuesday’s vote, sources told THE CITY, frustrating those leaders and their rank-and-file members.
Crain’s New York - Sept 30, 2025
Public sector unions approve city’s new health plan with Emblem, UnitedHealth
Meghan Peterson, president of Local 3005, which represents roughly 1,200 city Health Department research scientists and technical workers, said that many of the members in her union were concerned about a lack of transparency about the cost savings and their inability to see the contract before the vote.
The Chief - Sept 30, 2025
MLC approves contentious healthcare agreement
“City Hall is gambling with our health to balance their budget without giving us a seat at the table. The claim that this new plan will deliver $1 billion in savings has not been backed up with any proof, and the municipal employees and pre-65 retirees who will be directly affected were shut out of the negotiating process,” a joint statement from HandsOffNYCare and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees said.
The Chief - Sept 26, 2025
Uncertainty abounds ahead of MLC vote on city health plan
“Citing a lack of details, a number of unions representing New York City municipal workers appear hesitant to sign off on a cost-saving health-benefit agreement city and union officials reached with two major insurance firms in late August.“
“Although city officials have said the plan, jointly run by EmblemHealth and UnitedHealthcare, would continue to provide premium-free coverage for 750,000 active and retired city employees, some unions have said they have received insufficient information about the provisional five-year agreement.”
New York Daily News - Sept 24, 2025
A risky City Hall health care change
“I’ve spent decades fighting for New York City’s municipal workers, and let me tell you something every New Yorker should know: the city can’t function without us.”
The CITY - June 12, 2025
Retirees’ Medicare Advantage Backlash Resonates in Mayor’s Race
“The undecided fate of health care for retired city workers will hang over whichever candidate wins the race for mayor — and it’s already shaping the Democratic primary.
Earlier this month, the campaign of Queens Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who has surged from obscurity to the top position in one new survey, quietly changed its website to add for the first time a pledge to “reject Medicare Advantage” — the widely derided cost-cutting program that an existing deal between employee unions and City Hall aims to steer some quarter-million retirees into, hoping to save $600 million a year.”
NEWS
The Chief Leader - June 6, 2025
City moves forward with new municipal employee health plan
The CITY - April 29, 2025
Public Sector Unions Sue City Hall Over Health Savings Impasse
“The court clash stems from the collapse of a longstanding joint effort to force civil service retirees to switch to cheaper Medicare Advantage coverage to help achieve those savings. The move set off a firestorm of opposition among retirees, and the plan was rejected by a state Supreme Court judge in a decision upheld repeatedly. An Adams administration appeal will be heard by the state’s highest court later this year.”
Newsweek - April 2, 2025
Some New Yorkers Could See $1,500 Health Insurance Increase: Report
“New York City municipal workers could face $1,500 in annual premium charges for health care plans that have historically been free. This potential price hike comes after a crucial health benefits fund ran out of money in October, according to meeting minutes obtained by The City and New York Focus.”
New York Focus - March 31, 2025
NYC’s Employee Health Fund Has Hit Zero — What It Means for Public Workers
“The funding shortfall has its roots in a story that New York Focus broke in 2021, when we reported that the city was seeking to save billions by switching its retired workers’ health insurance to private Medicare Advantage plans, which has a smaller network and more barriers to care than traditional Medicare. Since lawsuits from retired city workers have stalled that plan, the city has sought alternative means for achieving the savings.
Center for New York City Affairs - Feb 21, 2024
The City Wants Lower Insurance Costs. It Needs a Basic Rethink.
“New York City government wants to buy a new basic insurance plan for more than one million beneficiaries (City employees and their dependents). It wants to cut the nearly $10 billion a year it currently pays for coverage by $1 billion annually, maintain the same level of coverage, and keep it premium-free for members.“
"Achieving all that is about as easy as finding an affordable three-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village.”
City & State - Dec 19, 2024
City retirees win in court again, as Adams vows to press on
“The retired New York City civil servants fighting to keep their traditional Medicare won their biggest court battle yet thanks to a ruling by the state’s highest court on Tuesday. In its unanimous decision, the state Court of Appeals ruled that the “City must pay – up to the statutory cap – for each health insurance plan that it offers employees and retirees.” The court ruling blocks the city’s plan to stop paying for retirees’ traditional Medicare coverage in order to force them onto a Medicare Advantage plan managed by private insurer Aetna.”
The Chief Leader - Oct 1, 2024
Retirees demand Adams drop Medicare appeals
The Chief is a New York City-based newspaper that has long focused on municipal government, civil servants, and the issues affecting New York State and federal employees.
“But more than a decade into Gonzalez’s retirement, those guarantees remain under threat. As they have been for several years, as first the de Blasio administration and, since 2022, then the Adams administration have endeavored to shift roughly 250,000 retired municipal workers into a cost-saving, for-profit Medicare Advantage plan from their government-administered Medicare and supplemental insurance.”
