Higher payments for opt-out illegal

The city’s Medicare plan is flawed, judge rules

A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice has ruled that the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus plan scheduled to take effect April 1 was illegal as constituted because it placed a greater financial burden on retirees who elected to stay in the current Senior Care program by making them pay  $191 monthly for doing so.

Justice Lyle Frank stated in his four-page decision issued March 3 that the city was required under its Administrative Code to "pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost  of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis," referring to the basic city health-coverage standard.