Retired municipal workers protested outside City Hall Friday and refuse to go down without a fight.

“We are angry, we are pissed and we are not going to go away,” said Sarah Shapiro, a United Federation of Teachers retiree.

Mayor Eric Adams signed an agreement on a new insurance plan for municipal workers.

What You Need To Know

  • Under the Medicare Advantage PPO plan, Aetna will serve as the new provider for some 250,000 retirees and their dependents

  • Mayor Eric Adams says this new plan is a good thing because it offers a lower deductible, a cap on out-of-pocket expenses and a slew of new benefits

  • Retirees are instead calling on Adams to choose “Option C,” which they say would maintain premium-free senior care and save the city $350 million

“We were promised the healthcare we always had and now this mayor is treating us like a piece of garbage,” said Shapiro. “Throwing us on the street after all the years we dedicated to this city and we’re angry.”

Under the Medicare Advantage PPO plan, Aetna will serve as the new provider for some 250,000 retirees and their dependents.

This means city workers will no longer receive federally funded Medicare and instead be forced into privatized health plans.

“I just really want access to my doctor. Period. Full stop,” said Marianna Pizzitola, a retired FDNY EMT who has been receiving Medicare since she retired in 2004.

Adams says the new plan is a good thing because it offers a lower deductible, a cap on out-of-pocket expenses and a slew of new benefits.

But Pizzitola says “Medicare Advantage” is actually more restrictive and more expensive.

“In Medicare Advantage, you have prior authorizations, you have to have a pre-visit confirmation so the insurer can determine if it’s medically necessary,” said Pizzitola. “In Medicare, my doctor determines what is medically necessary, not an insurance company.”

Retirees are instead calling on Adams to choose “Option C” which they say would maintain premium-free senior care and save the city $350 million.

If the City Council doesn’t step in to stop this plan, retired municipal workers say they plan on taking legal action against the Adams administration.

“Hopefully, we don’t have to continue spending resources that these retirees don’t have in order to solve this problem but we can’t bank on that so we are going to move ahead and hope that the courts will intervene to protect the rights of these elderly and disabled, retired civil servants,” said Jake Gardener, a partner at Walden, Macht & Haran LLP.

Retirees have the option to opt out of the Aetna plan between May 1 and June 30. Otherwise, they’ll become automatically enrolled starting Sept. 1.