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To the editor:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced savings measures to help close the city’s budget gap.
The largest item is for the Office of Labor Relations: “OLR will conduct a full audit of dependent eligibility in employee health plans. Ineligible dependents will be removed from coverage. This is expected to save approximately $100 million in FY27.”
The devil is in the details. The last audit, conducted in 2023, was not comprehensive, and unfortunately not independent. OLR was essentially investigating itself.
The audit had a restrictive random sample of 2,000 persons. At the time, Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, observed that this is minuscule, as there were approximately 1.2 million health-plan participants.
It was negligent and fiscally irresponsible for OLR not to fulfill its fiduciary duty to know who improperly receives benefits.
That audit was conducted with input from the Municipal Labor Committee, who wrote in a letter to members that “the MLC Technical Committee and [Dependent Eligibility Verification Audit] Subcommittee have worked with the City to ensure that the audit is conducted in a manner consistent with prior audits.”
(As an aside, those Committee members are kept secret. A Freedom of Information request for disclosure of Technical Committee members was denied by OLR)
The Mayor and OLR Commissioner Renee Campion should show transparency and divulge how “full” this audit will be. Would it include retirees, who will pay for it, and what will be the process?
Retirees who have long been staring at the possibility of health benefits savings being made at their expense, will be watching.
Harry Weiner
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Valete
Why are retirees expressing dissatisfaction with Mamdani’s socialist policies? His actions align with the well-documented tendencies of socialist Democrats to negatively impact the lives and well-being of the middle class. It’s time to stop complaining and embrace socialism, as it’s the system that will govern New York City for the foreseeable future. Democrats should anticipate the consequences of their electoral choices, as Mamdani’s policies will undoubtedly produce the outcomes they’ve chosen to support.
Wednesday, April 1 Report this
Harry
Retirees are not a monolithic voting group. And some are more informed than others. Mamdani’s campaign comments on retiree heath care issues were sadly ambiguous enough to be tea leaves open to interpretation. NYCOPSR had the sense to support any candidate regardless of party that endorsed in writing their goals. Mamdani wasn’t one of them.
Wednesday, April 1 Report this
Valete
Mamdani’s ambiguity regarding retiree health care extended beyond mere ambiguity; it bordered on evasiveness, which should have been a clear red flag.
Thursday, April 2 Report this
Harry
Henry Garrido co-Chairing Mamdani’s transition committee was another red flag.
Thursday, April 2 Report this
Valete
This isn’t the first time DC 37 leadership has betrayed retirees. Any DC 37 member should be fully aware of the history of DC 37’s leadership. It’s shameful that they casually permit retirees’ health benefits to be disregarded. DC 37 is playing Russian Roulette with retirees’ lives and their health benefits.
Friday, April 3 Report this
DOTHERIGHTTHING
Why won't the Mayor of" making NYC Affordable" meet with NYC Medicare Retirees? Mamdani needs to protect NYC Medicare Retirees Earned Healthcare& Stop The Co=Pays on our Earned Healthcare…...
Sunday, April 5 Report this