Advantage, retirees

To the editor:

This is an open letter from the Council of Municipal Retiree Organizations (COMRO) to the various parties involved in the attempts to force municipal retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan.

To Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Sector Retirees:  Thank you and your executive board and legal team for your miraculous efforts to galvanize thousands of retirees across the country to resist the de Blasio and Adams administrations’  attempts to force us to lose our Medicare benefits and literally place our lives in the hands of for-profit insurance conglomerates.

To Mayor Eric Adams: We join Marianne in expressing our gratitude that you were able to “land this plane.” We ask you to instruct the city’s corporation counsel to return to the state Supreme Court to request the court to dismiss all charges and permanently close the Bentkowski case.

To City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: We agree with your statement that we “can now move towards a solution.” That includes passing Intro 1096, which would ensure future mayors could not try to end our supplemental Medicare coverage.

To United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew: Thank you for opposing the city’s plan.” We encourage you to facilitate the appointment of a retiree to the MLC’s executive board.

To District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido: You recently stated  that “Since the mayor has decided not to proceed with the Medicare Advantage plan, this fulfills the unions’ obligation to generate Medicare-eligible retiree health care savings.” 

Earlier this year, the IRS paperwork for the DC 37 Retirees Association was accepted, meaning two outstanding issues have been resolved. It is therefore time for you to request AFSCME to instruct the administrator to schedule chapter elections this fall so that the 26,000 members will have their elected representatives running their chapter.

Stuart Eber

The writer is president of the Council of Municipal Retiree Organizations