As the UFT election begins full swing, and the city workers and retirees reel from Mulgrew's healthcare mess, the MLC sues City for the ill-fated deals Mulgrew committed them to. We must vote him out!
We will never win when we are negotiating with a for-profit insurance industry. That is a large reason of why I am voting ARISE. A single-payer system is a part of their platform and that is extremely important to me. Unity will never stop with their lies and will continue to diminish our healthcare. Thanks for calling it out.
Amazing summary, thank you. I wonder if current rank and file UFT members and retirees are in the know about the NY Health Act. It would solve a lot of these issues in one fell swoop. You can find info (and some entertainment) here, with mentions of the MLC, if you like: https://healthcareconspiracy.com
Without a doubt I love ABC and urge all to vote for this outstanding and experienced member-driven Team. While I can't speak for the slate, ABC did announce they have not taken a position on NYHA yet
Personally there's a great deal to love about the NYHA -- clearly how the insurance companies would be removed from the Healthcare equation. Having said this, I am one who has concerns about this bill as it stands now.
There are critical issues within NYHA that MUST be fixed- not after it passes --but before it passes. Retirees who live or need to move out of NY are not guaranteed sustainable coverage. And this was confirmed publicly by its sponsor Senator Gustavo Rivera at our RTC Meeting.
Please keep in mind that this significantly impacts countless of municipal retirees. We are talking about fixed income seniors who can't afford NY's ever increasing cost-of-living. We are also talking about disabled seniors -not to mention first responders, who, for physical reasons, need to live elsewhere. And there are many changes in life that cause retirees to move out.
So when you push for the NYHA make sure you push to fix this -because it's not a small matter.
I hear that loud and clear. I’d thought the law, for those who have to live out of state in retirement, guaranteed the level of care they’d receive had they stayed on the existing coverage the union would have offered had the NY health act not passed. I’ll check in with Richard Gottfried about this because I thought that yes, while they wouldn’t be eligible for NYHA benefits, the would in fact receive no lesser benefits than before.
Thanks Richard. I agree with your passion to eliminate profiteers from healthcare and admire your desire to be fair to seniors who'd be harmed by the NYHA
The NYHA does include a clause to cover those who live out of NY, but it's the nuts and bolts of how it'd work that matters. If you're not living within the critical mass of NY'ers, you'd be faced with an employer coverage comprised with an extremely limited network of doctors and rising, unaffordable premiums. In fact it is why current drafters of the NYHA have decided there'd be a panel to figure things out within 18 months of its passage. Does this sound fair? What does it mean to be at the mercy of a panel after it passes? ... a select panel who will try to figure things out when there's been such a huge lax to tackle it now?
While I respect former Rep Richard Gottfried for initiating the NYHA, I was stunned how he denied my out-of-state concerns when I gratefully approached him at a conference. Unlike the current NYHA sponsor Gustavo Rivera (who publicly admitted there's a problem), Mr. Gottfried quickly insisted there was nothing to worry about, because according to him, "anyone living out-of-state would have the same coverage as NY residents." Then he brushed me off with "Why would anyone leave NY when they had the NYHA anyway." Unfortunately, and likely because of this kind of false assurance, many well intentioned NYHA supporters are convinced that out-of-state individuals are fully covered just like NY residents, when it's not true.
This is why many of us are calling the alarm on it. It's unacceptable to pass healthcare that will jeopardize the lives of so many municipal seniors and disabled retirees who live out of NY. Appreciate you being interesting in this Richard, and pray others will be as well.
I hear you and I very much understand your concerns. I’m a member of two actor unions who have incredible complications over the prospect of single payer being passed on the state level when so many of their members work in multiple states every year. And yes, vague non-assurances for after the bill is passed aren’t very reassuring. I guess what I’m still curious about is, the mess that you describe retirees who move out of state finding themselves in, would that not be the same regardless of whether the New York health act were passed? Or am I misunderstanding something?
We will never win when we are negotiating with a for-profit insurance industry. That is a large reason of why I am voting ARISE. A single-payer system is a part of their platform and that is extremely important to me. Unity will never stop with their lies and will continue to diminish our healthcare. Thanks for calling it out.
Amazing summary, thank you. I wonder if current rank and file UFT members and retirees are in the know about the NY Health Act. It would solve a lot of these issues in one fell swoop. You can find info (and some entertainment) here, with mentions of the MLC, if you like: https://healthcareconspiracy.com
Without a doubt I love ABC and urge all to vote for this outstanding and experienced member-driven Team. While I can't speak for the slate, ABC did announce they have not taken a position on NYHA yet
Personally there's a great deal to love about the NYHA -- clearly how the insurance companies would be removed from the Healthcare equation. Having said this, I am one who has concerns about this bill as it stands now.
There are critical issues within NYHA that MUST be fixed- not after it passes --but before it passes. Retirees who live or need to move out of NY are not guaranteed sustainable coverage. And this was confirmed publicly by its sponsor Senator Gustavo Rivera at our RTC Meeting.
Please keep in mind that this significantly impacts countless of municipal retirees. We are talking about fixed income seniors who can't afford NY's ever increasing cost-of-living. We are also talking about disabled seniors -not to mention first responders, who, for physical reasons, need to live elsewhere. And there are many changes in life that cause retirees to move out.
So when you push for the NYHA make sure you push to fix this -because it's not a small matter.
I hear that loud and clear. I’d thought the law, for those who have to live out of state in retirement, guaranteed the level of care they’d receive had they stayed on the existing coverage the union would have offered had the NY health act not passed. I’ll check in with Richard Gottfried about this because I thought that yes, while they wouldn’t be eligible for NYHA benefits, the would in fact receive no lesser benefits than before.
Thanks Richard. I agree with your passion to eliminate profiteers from healthcare and admire your desire to be fair to seniors who'd be harmed by the NYHA
The NYHA does include a clause to cover those who live out of NY, but it's the nuts and bolts of how it'd work that matters. If you're not living within the critical mass of NY'ers, you'd be faced with an employer coverage comprised with an extremely limited network of doctors and rising, unaffordable premiums. In fact it is why current drafters of the NYHA have decided there'd be a panel to figure things out within 18 months of its passage. Does this sound fair? What does it mean to be at the mercy of a panel after it passes? ... a select panel who will try to figure things out when there's been such a huge lax to tackle it now?
While I respect former Rep Richard Gottfried for initiating the NYHA, I was stunned how he denied my out-of-state concerns when I gratefully approached him at a conference. Unlike the current NYHA sponsor Gustavo Rivera (who publicly admitted there's a problem), Mr. Gottfried quickly insisted there was nothing to worry about, because according to him, "anyone living out-of-state would have the same coverage as NY residents." Then he brushed me off with "Why would anyone leave NY when they had the NYHA anyway." Unfortunately, and likely because of this kind of false assurance, many well intentioned NYHA supporters are convinced that out-of-state individuals are fully covered just like NY residents, when it's not true.
This is why many of us are calling the alarm on it. It's unacceptable to pass healthcare that will jeopardize the lives of so many municipal seniors and disabled retirees who live out of NY. Appreciate you being interesting in this Richard, and pray others will be as well.
I hear you and I very much understand your concerns. I’m a member of two actor unions who have incredible complications over the prospect of single payer being passed on the state level when so many of their members work in multiple states every year. And yes, vague non-assurances for after the bill is passed aren’t very reassuring. I guess what I’m still curious about is, the mess that you describe retirees who move out of state finding themselves in, would that not be the same regardless of whether the New York health act were passed? Or am I misunderstanding something?