Why the New York Health Act is not the Answer
Healthcare is arguably the single most important aspect of our retiree benefits. We’ve known that and it was amplified these past few years when they voiced their concerns at the possibility of switching to a Medicare Advantage plan. Throughout that time, it’s important to affirm that our leadership remained committed to never agree to any health plan that reduced our benefits in anyway. But in the end, no matter what a possible Medicare Advantage plan could promise, we heard our retirees' voices loud and clear: Keep what we have, and don’t change a thing.
Now, we are in an election year, and the two slates opposing UNITY are both supporting the New York Health Act, a dangerous plan created in haste and without answers. Let’s be clear: the New York Health Act would do exactly what our retirees DO NOT WANT. ABC and ARISE are fighting for a health plan that would jeopardize everything we’ve fought for and all the benefits we’ve earned.
We can’t afford this loss. Here’s what we will lose:
We lose our doctors: We learned our important our doctors are to our retirees. They know their doctors and don’t want to change. Have you asked your doctor what they think about the New York Health Act? See what they say. The NYHA wont guarantee that patients can keep their current doctors. In fact, experts advise the opposite: it could cause many to begin to practice under private concierge services, or cause a mass exodus to neighboring states.
We lose traditional medicare: Have you read this bill? It proposes applying for a federal waiver to eliminate Medicare. How can we give up medicare at a time like this? With what is happening federally, we are barely hanging on to Medicare and Social Security. Protecting Medicare is more crucial than ever.
We lose our voice at the table: We have a very influential seat at the current table to negotiate our health care and reflect what our members need. Right now, because of a decrease in providers, we are back at the bargaining table using our buying power to IMPROVE our benefits based on the data of exactly where our members like to get care, and what type of care they need most. Under NYHA, that seat at the table is next to gone. Only 3 out of 31 seats on the panel controlling the NYHA would represent all union workers, which is less than 10% of the panel.
We lose out-of-state care: Right now, the bill does nothing to address our out of state retirees. Who will cover? How will it be set up? Can members keep their doctors? We asked the writer of the bill, Senator Rivera this exact question at our retiree town hall, and his answer was: Let’s pass the bill first, and find out second.
We lose dependability: Have you ever been to the DMV? Called New York State? Do we want the NYS Health department to be in charge of our care? We all know that answer.
We lose money: this will cost us. We no longer have access to the top-notch deal that UFT members get on health care. The tax increase that this will take to make sure every single New Yorker is insured will come from all of our pockets. We aren’t ready right now to commit to that without seeing a more detailed breakdown of how they will manage that, and what it will mean for our taxes.
The continued support of a bill like NYHA by ABC and Arise just shows how inexperienced, uninformed, and incapable they are of running a union like ours. It’s the perfect example of something that looks good from a distance, but under scrutiny, reveals something else. UNITY knows how to look closely; this ain’t our first rodeo.
Of course, in an ideal world everyone should have access to high-quality health care. Even though we support the concept, there are still too many unanswered questions and unknowns that make it a guarantee that our retiree health care will be weakened and possibly destroyed.
In the end, our loyalty lies with our members, and making sure we are able to retire with the same commitment we were given when we entered the job: our high-quality benefits that we know are superior to the rest.