Looking to protect future retirees

To the editor,

The Council of Municipal Retirees Organization, or COMRO, has been advocating for all 250,000 New York City municipal retirees’ benefits since 1995. This includes Pension COLA, Medicare Part B Reimbursement, and Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA.

We were the first organization to oppose the de Blasio proposal to convert our hard-earned Medicare coverage to the scandal-ridden Medicare Advantage Program and continued our opposition with several other advocacy groups at two city council hearings during the Adams administration. We supported Intro 1096 to protect our Supplemental Medicare coverage in the last city council and now endorse Intro 1008, the summary of which states:

“This bill would maintain the health insurance coverage of eligible retired employees of the city of New York and their dependents by prohibiting the City from increasing the total costs for healthcare above the rate paid by each retiree as of December 31, 2021, or by decreasing the level of coverage that was provided to each such retiree as of December 31, 2021.”

The municipal labor committee opposed Intro 1096 and now 1008. They are pressuring city council members to not join 16 Democrat and Republican members to co-sponsor Council member Chris Marte’s bill. The committee claims the bill interferes with collective bargaining rights. The bill specifically says, “Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impair the ability of employee organizations to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, including those concerning future retirement benefits, for their employee members.”

We urge all past and current employees to contact Council member Eric Dinowitz to co-sponsor Intro 1008 to protect current and future retirees’ health insurance coverage.

STUART EBER
President, Council of Municipal Retirees
Organization

The Riverdale Press welcomes letters to the editor. It is committed to providing an open forum for opinions. Send letters via e-mail to letters@riverdalepress.com. The Press also occasionally publishes longer columns, as well as some works of creative writing. Your submission should be signed and include your home address and daytime phone number. This information is for verification purposes only and will not be published. Anonymous letters are not considered. Letters are subject to editing for reasons such as length and clarity.