NYC-CC38: NYC union yanks backing for one Council member (D), pulls cash to others over Medicare Advantage beef

DC 37, the city’s largest public sector union, has rescinded its endorsement of one City Council member and committed to stop donating to several others in retaliation for their support of a bill that would protect retired municipal workers’ access to traditional Medicare, according to records obtained by the Daily News.

The retribution is born out of a long-running effort by Mayor Adams’ administration to shift the city’s roughly 250,000 municipal retirees into Medicare Advantage, a privatized, cost-saving version of regular Medicare.

DC 37, which represents some 150,000 active city workers, has supported the Advantage switch — its union leaders agreeing with Adams’ argument that it would save the city hundreds of millions of dollars each year and continue to provide retirees with adequate health coverage.

But a group of municipal retirees has so far blocked Adams’ Advantage push in court, arguing it would water down the traditional Medicare coverage they claim they’re entitled to by law.

Some Council members are siding with the retirees and have introduced legislation to codify into law that the city must offer retirees a traditional plan, comprised of the federal Medicare program boosted by a city-subsidized supplement.



https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/05/09/nyc-union-yanks-backing-for-one-council-member-pulls-cash-to-others-over-medicare-advantage-beef/