By Joe Maniscalco

This week, District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido immediately started calling City Council Member Charles Barron’s measure to preserve a half-century commitment to retiree healthcare “the single most irresponsible proposal in the history of New York City’s Council” — he forgot to include the New York State Legislature where Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski is responsible for introducing virtually the same legislation.

“It's not a very long bill,” the Rockland County representative tells Work-Bites. “It says a public employer ‘shall not diminish the health insurance benefits provided to retirees and their dependents, or the contributions such employer makes for such health insurance coverage below the level of the benefits or contributions made on behalf of the retirees and their dependents as of November 1, 2022.’”

Essentially, Assembly Member Zebrowski [D-96th District] says his state-level measure seeks to “freeze the health care benefits that folks had upon retirement.”

“These obviously are folks that collectively bargained through their unions their entire careers, but left public service with a understanding that they would be taken care of in their retirement,” Zebrowski says.

Garrido was on corporate media airwaves the day after Barron and Zebrowski introduced their legislation in the City Council and State Assembly touting the “gym memberships” and “rides to the doctor” associated with the privatized Medicare Advantage contract Mayor Eric Adams’ administration signed with insurance giant Aetna in March.

At the same time, he attempted to downplay the “concept” of pre-authorizations that — in the real world — result in well-documented and scandalous delays and denials of necessary care.

“When you sit down with folks and talk to them about their individual scenarios, you will see situations where doctors are uncovered; where treatments aren't clearly covered'; where there has to be pre-authorizations and those things,” Zebrowski says. “When you sit down with these folks and look them in the eye and hear their stories — I think it's clear that this [Medicare Advantage program] doesn't provide parity [with traditional Medicare coverage].”

Garrido made his observations on the notoriously anti-union airways of Charter Spectrum News during an “Inside City Hall” segment sponsored — by Aetna.

Charter Spectrum, by the way, is the telecommunications giant responsible for breaking the back of IBEW Local 3 in New York City after a punishing five-year strike that left scores of workers and their families bitter and angry with their union leadership — to this day. 

“We need to remain true to our values, and that means standing up for both those in-service and retirees,” Assembly Member Zebrowski adds. “Retirees are folks that, oftentimes, are at more of a financial disadvantage than those in-service because their incomes tend to be fixed. And when you talk about health insurance, they tend to be folks that are older, have more health challenges, and rely upon doctors and treatments even more so than folks that are younger and in-service. So, I think this is critical. If we're going to stay true to our values, I think it's critical that we stand up for our retirees.”

The amicus brief the New York City Council’s Common Sense Caucus submitted earlier this week to the State Supreme Court Judge overseeing a critical lawsuit between municipal retirees and Mayor Adams’ pro-privatization administration — points out that “Over 70,000 retired City workers survive on pensions of less than $1,500 a month; nearly 100,000 survive on less than $2,000; and over 150,000 survive on less than $3,000.”

Zebrowski — who also chairs the Assembly’s Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee, and has oversight of the MTA — which is also involved with its own Medicare Advantage fight with TWU Local 100 members —  expects his measure to get an intro number later this week, and accompanying State Senate sponsorship soon, as well.

The assembly member says a Medicare Advantage program could still exist as an option — “but forcing folks into a new plan I don't think is appropriate.”

“I think both myself and my colleagues in City Council have the same goal in terms of the New York City retirees,” he says, “and we’re gonna work together.”

Assembly Member Zebrowski announced the state-level introduction of his retiree legislation during Thursday’s rally outside City Hall in support of Barron’s City Council measure.

“There was a lot of energy out there yesterday,” Zebrowski says. “But part of me does think they shouldn't have had to been out there. You know, these are folks who have worked for decades and given their lives to the City of New York in a variety of different fields — and for them now to have to rally out on the street just to preserve what they currently have — is a shame.”

Like Barron, Zebrowski says he is doing what he knows is right.

“And that's standing up for these folks, fighting for what I believe is an equity and a fairness issue,” he says. “I'm going to push as hard as possible to try to make sure that the Assembly stays true to our values. And I think this bill is a perfect example of that.”