Memorial Sloan Kettering scraps insurance rule that could’ve frozen out NYC municipal retirees
A well-regarded Manhattan cancer hospital has scrapped a health insurance rule that could’ve resulted in tens of thousands of retired city workers being barred from seeking care at the facility.
As first reported by the Daily News on Friday, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the Upper East Side sent out billing notices on Jan. 1 notifying patients enrolled in so-called Medicare Advantage plans that they “might not be able to continue to receive Medicare coverage for services provided at the center” or be forced to “pay substantially more.”
The notice set off alarm bells among the city’s roughly 250,000 retired municipal workers, who are in the process of being switched over to Medicare Advantage plans as part of a cost-saving effort initiated by former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
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But John Connolly, a spokesman for Memorial Sloan Kettering, said Tuesday that the Jan. 1 notice was issued in “error” and that the hospital has started accepting Medicare Advantage plans as of this month.
“That language should have been removed from our bills effective Jan. 1 and has since been corrected,” Connolly said, adding that the hospital is in the process of “communicating with patients who received the incorrect information.”
The Memorial Sloan Kettering hiccup is the latest snag in the city’s effort to move municipal retirees onto Medicare Advantage plans.
Last fall, the de Blasio administration unveiled the new plan with a promise that it would not only provide retirees with better coverage — but also save the city hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars per year thanks to a larger influx of federal funds.
But the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, a group of ex-municipal workers, sued the city, alleging that the rollout of the plan was marred by factual errors while raising concerns that it might result in coverage being watered down due to new preauthorization procedures and other issues.
The group also balked at the de Blasio administration telling retirees that they would have to pay a $191 monthly penalty if they opt to stay on their current coverage instead of being automatically enrolled in the new plan for free.
A Manhattan judge ruled last year that the implementation of the plan was “irrational” and pushed back the opt-out deadline until April after the administration initially wanted it set for November.
Steve Cohen, an attorney for the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said the Memorial Sloan Kettering miscommunication is only the latest example of retired workers receiving conflicting information about the new plan.
“This keeps happening,” he said. “There’s a lot of confusion going on, and that causes a lot of worry for retirees.”
Since the Medicare Advantage plan isn’t set to take effect until April, Mayor Adams has the power to amend or rescind it.
Adams hasn’t said how he plans to deal with the issue, though his administration is actively reviewing it, according to City Hall aides.
If Adams doesn’t act, Cohen said his client is likely to file an additional court case charging that the city is violating municipal contracts by seeking to financially penalize retirees who opt to stay on their current plans.
But Cohen said he hopes it doesn’t come to that.
“Mayor Adams, you want to do the right thing? Here’s what you do: You stop the plan, and come up with a better Medicare Advantage plan that retirees can voluntarily choose,” he said. “Don’t force them into it.”
