Tell Mayor Eric Adams: Stop Trying to Take Medicare Away from NYC Retirees

New York City retirees are fighting to keep their access to traditional Medicare – and they need all of us to join them in speaking out against Medicare disAdvantage!

This petition is sponsored and is being circulated by:

Be A Hero
New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
Citizen Action of NY
New York Progressive Action Network
Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC NY)
Physicians for a National Health Program
Physicians for a National Health Program - NY Metro
Center for Health and Democracy
Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action
People's Action

Since 2021, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his administration have been trying to push retirees onto privatized Medicare disAdvantage plans and strip away their promised Medicare benefits. The city’s plan has been rejected by the courts multiple times, and yet the Mayor is pressing on, bringing public service retirees to court over and over again in a costly legal battle.

What’s at stake? For decades, New York City public retirees, including teachers, police officers, sanitation workers, 9/11 first responders, and other public servants have been promised healthcare benefits through the trusted Medicare program. Mayor Adams has broken that promise by handing over retiree healthcare benefits to profit-driven insurance corporations that limit provider networks, delay care, and routinely deny claims in order to turn massive profits at the expense of our health. Recent investigations have found that the largest insurers in Medicare Advantage have committed widespread fraud and denied patients critical care they were supposed to provide by law. NYC retirees - and all Medicare-eligible people - deserve better.

That’s why we are calling on New York Mayor Eric Adams to, among other demands detailed in the letter below:

Stop fighting to force retirees onto Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plan by immediately pulling his administration’s appeal before the New York Supreme Court in the Bentkowski case; and
Commit to honoring the promise made to retirees by ensuring premium free access to a traditional Medicare plan with supplemental (MediGap) coverage.

Add your name to this petition calling on Mayor Adams to drop his fight to force NYC retirees onto a Medicare disAdvantage plan. Whether you’re a retiree, a New Yorker, or just believe in protecting the promise of access to lifesaving healthcare, we all need to raise our voices against the privatization of this essential public program so that all people on Medicare get the healthcare they need and deserve.

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Phone

Zip Code *

Representatives

Your Letter *

Mayor Adams:

For the last three years, your administration has fought to strip New York City’s public service retirees of their promised Medicare benefits. The teachers, police officers, fire fighters, sanitation workers, engineers, 9/11 first responders, and all public servants who dedicated their careers to making New York City the greatest city on the planet deserve the retirement benefits they were promised over the course of decades. Your relentless campaign to strip retirees of these benefits is not only an insult to their service, but it has continuously been ruled as illegal. Your ongoing efforts to force retirees into a Medicare disAdvantage plan is a drain on City resources and is a shameful dereliction of your duty to serve and protect all New Yorkers. Therefore, we demand that you:

Stop forcing retirees into Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plan by immediately withdrawing your appeal in Bentkowski v. The City of New York.

Commit to honoring the promise made to retirees by ensuring premium free access to a traditional Medicare plan with supplemental (MediGap) coverage.

Commit to not increasing the cost of health benefits to public service retirees by withdrawing your appeal in NYC Org. of Pub. Serv. Retirees, Inc. v Campion.

Immediately rescind the recent decision to charge a $15 copay for each interaction with the healthcare system.

Hold a public town hall meeting with retirees to hear retirees’ concerns and engage in a good faith discussion about the future of their promised benefits.

Publicly state your support for a resolution in the City Council to never strip retirees of their promised benefits, specifically by ensuring access to Traditional Medicare with a supplemental plan.

Publicly state your support for Senate Bill 8388 / Assembly Bill 7866, which would prohibit public employers from diminishing health benefits for retirees by forcing them into the privatized so-called “Medicare Advantage” plans.

Publicly state your support for federal legislation that would expand Traditional Medicare to cover vision, hearing and dental benefits, add a cap on out of pocket expenses to beneficiaries, reduce Part B premiums and recoup overpayments to insurance companies offering Medicare disAdvantage plans.

Publicly state your support for federal legislation that would remove the word “Medicare” from the name of Part C plans.

It is time for your administration to make good on the promises made to the public servants who worked for The City of New York!

Your signature will automatically be added to your letter.

Leave this field blank

This campaign is hosted by Be a Hero Fund. By providing your email address and cell phone number you consent to receive a follow up text and/or emails from Be a Hero Action Fund. Read our privacy policy here.