NYC Retiree Voices: Medicare Advantage ‘Breaches’ Covenant With Workers

Retired Local 831 Teamster John Pinard denounces attempts by the Adams administration and the MLC leadership to push retirees into a for-profit Medicare Advantage insurance plan.

By Joe Maniscalco

There are a lot of things about the campaign to push New York City municipal retirees into a scandal-plagued, for-profit Medicare Advantage insurance plan that stinks to workers who’ve risked everything — from 9/11 to Covid-19 — to help keep their city running.

They did it largely based on a binding pact — some have gone as far as calling it a “covenant” with the City of New York — that says workers will have worry-free healthcare when they need it the most.

Retired Local 831 Teamster John Pinard talked about the attempted breach of that covenant at a rally against Medicare Advantage held outside the MLC’s 55 Water Street offices on Dec. 21 — and the word he used was “audacity.”

“It’s the audacity of me spending 29 years — giving up my life for my family, for my city — on an agreement, a handshake, a written agreement and law that states I get a pension and I get healthcare for the rest of my life when I complete my end of the bargain,” the 54-year-old told Work-Bites. “I want my end of the bargain not to be breached. I want this agreement to last for everyone like it was agreed to.”

ABOVE: Retired Local 831 Teamster John Pinard and other municipal retirees rally against efforts to push them into a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan.

Pinard spent eight-and-a-half years as a conductor and train operator with the New York City Transportation Authority before spending the next two-plus decades with the Department of Sanitation.

As terrible as having his traditional Medicare coverage suddenly replaced by a privatized health insurance scam of a plan that mounting evidence shows costs more, delivers less and could ultimately help kill you — Pinard believes the proposed switcheroo being orchestrated by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and MLC heads Michael Mulgrew, Henry Garrido and Harry Nespoli has even wider ramifications for New York City.

“If it’s a fiscal problem between politicians handing over the city from one to the other — they’re gonna have to find another way to figure out this situation,” Pinard said. “You cannot break and breach agreements. It’s not only a problem with healthcare in this situation — but if you get away with this, that means you don’t have to abide by any rules or any laws — that’s what that means. That means you’re throwing our law system right in the trash.”

Protesters specifically called out DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido for his ongoing efforts to help rewrite NYC’s Administrative Code and push municipal retirees into a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan.

“You’re not gonna forget us,” Pinard said through a bullhorn. “You’re gonna have to face the reality of the choices you’re making.”