New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr., (D-Queens), a member of the Senate’s Racing, Gaming & Wagering Committee, commended the Senate for bringing to the floor a vote on requiring the State of New York to maintain the health insurance and supplemental benefits received by retirees of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (NYC OTB) (S.4489/Rules).
The bill notes that after the closure of NYC OTB on December 7, 2010, employees who had retired from the corporation were assured they and their dependents would receive health insurance and supplemental benefit coverage under their collective bargaining representative’s welfare benefit program. However, those benefits ceased upon closure of NYC OTB.
According to Addabbo, the State breaking a promise to supply benefits to retired NYC OTB employees and their dependents was one of the many reasons why he voted in favor of this bill and helped sought its passage.
“With the Senate’s commitment to provide health insurance and supplemental benefits to retirees of NYC OTB, the State is reaffirming its commitment to provide due benefits and recognition to former workers and families of NYC OTB. No one should have to endure financial hardships and choose which benefits to leave behind,” said Addabbo.
Former employees received supplemental benefits such as prescription drugs, optical and dental insurance through welfare fund benefit plans funded through employer contributions. Upon benefits ceasing to exist with the closure of NYC OTB, retirees were left to determine which prior benefits they could attain without employer contributions.
Addabbo notes it was illogical how benefits ceased to exist with plans in place to continue funding of benefits for retirees. “This bill is long overdue, and I am proud to stand with my Senate colleagues to provide for all present and future retirees the entitlement of benefits from any city-authorized health insurance or welfare benefit program,” he explained.
Under the proposed measure, the State will reimburse the city or its designee for the actual cost of benefits. The bill currently awaits signage into law by the governor after passing both houses of the Legislature on June 22, 2011.
Image courtesy of nysenate.gov
14 comments:
The New York City OTB health bill was approved by the New York State Senate and Assembly 22/July/ 2011.
To become law, the bill, needs to be moved from the Assembly to Governor Cuomo's desk. As of August 24, the bill has not been sent to the Governor so that he can sign it into law.
( What is the problem DC37? )
It is well understood that New State Senate bill 4489 and Assembly bill 5785 address and satisfy the constitutionality and cost issues mentioned in your letter, 18 August 2011.
NYC OTB retirees cannot continue monthly (COBRA) premiums, which exceed their monthly pension income. Retirees in the hospital are under unmanageable stress as to paying their medical bills. Please help us!! We cannot endure these circumstances much longer!!
(Send the OTB health bill to Governor Cuomo today!!)
In the midst, of Teamsters Local 858's greatest crisis, which connects its retirees to New York City's decision to withdraw retirees' health benefits, there has been little, if any, support from Local 858--that had blossomed like a flower in calm times, but wilted like a weed in critical times.
Teamsters Local 858 has not provided information or advise to New York City OTB retired managers, the past 8 months, other than mailing to them printed petitions, with envelopes, without postage stamps.
Locating an E mail address for Teamsters Local 858, is like searching for drinking water in the desert, it is nonexistent.
If not for "The Chief Newspaper,"
information regarding the Dc37 continuing legal spat with New York City and New York State, as to New York City OTB Retirees Health Insurance Bill S-4489, would be unavailable.
New York City retirees look for advise and help, but like a voice crying out in the wilderness their cries have fallen on deaf ears. New York City and New York State are the wolves; NYC OTB retirees' are the sheep; Teamsters local 858 is suppose to be the shepherd-- guiding the flock to safety.
It is a woeful thought that New York State Senate Bill 4489 was not signed into law on July 22nd, when Governor Cuomo, had eagerly thrust his social engineering agenda upon the voters of New York State.
Unfortunately, Mr Cuomo did not exhibit similar spirit, when the time had come for him to sign OTB Health Bill S-4489. In fact, the illusive health bill is somewhere in the State Capitol Building afraid to show its tattered image. Governor Cuomo and his staff, it seems, have been treating the health bill as if it were the plague, and OTB retirees as if they were dirt on the Capitol Building floor.
Governor Cuomo and his staff should be reminded that their ideals are only useful if changed frequently to fit the needs of the people. Reverence for policies that do not meet the needs of the people should be discarded--like refuse in a garbage heap.
The OTB retirees' health insurance dispute has been tossed about from one Appellate Court to another, from the Assembly to the Senate and back to the Assembly. Until today, its resting place has yet to be officially determined. However, it has been speculated that the bill is aimlessly wandering the Assembly lost and forlorn. Truly, OTB retirees' searching for lost health benefits are in one heck of a fine-fix.
That was a good letter of Dc37s which dispelled the rumors surrounding the OTB health legislation, August 18th. The letter pointed out that the OTB health bill was not on Governor Cuomo's desk, but, unfortunately, the letter did not specify where the elusive bill was. Approved on July 22nd, the health legislation has been a mirage--now you see it, now you don't.
It has been speculated that the health bill is somewhere in the capital district, but more accurate estimates calculate that the health legislation is in the New York State Capitol Building reluctant, for whatever reason, to show its tattered face to Governor Cuomo. The ongoing health legislation dispute is tied to the bill's constitutionality and cost, according to the Dc37, August 18th, letter. One is inclined to think that the New York State Senate and Assembly adequately addressed the issues of cost and constitutionality, when the health bill had been written.
OTB retirees who depended on the Appellate Courts' just ruling in this dispute had been disappointed because of the judges' bias and skullduggery. A Five-judge panel had concurred that New York City and New York State could renege on their assurances and obligations, to provide OTB retirees' health insurance. The judges' had the audacity to argue as follows: We do not have the right to make the City or State pay OTB retirees' health costs (yeah right).
Meanwhile, OTB retirees listening to the judges decision recognized, at once, that they were flimflammed and fleeced by pseudo-intellectuals.
Dc37, Local 2021, is attempting to solve a mystery that is too taxing on its mind. Like Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall, Dc37 is wavering, to and fro, deciding which direction to move the ongoing labor negotiations in Albany, New York ( while OTB retirees lay in hospital wards without health insurance because Medicaid said their montly income exceeded $900.00).
Today's New York Post contained an article of interest for all retirees regarding City pensions. Teamsters Union, mucky muckys, have been recommending that pension funds bailout the depressed economy, and that big government should broker New York City Retirees Pension funds, in the future.
" What, a Novel idea?"
First, OTB retirees lose their health insurance, because local and state government refused to honor their pledge to continue to pay their health benefits. Then, on a dog's chance, OTB retirees are to fork-over their pension fund to the government, on the assurance that the government will "spend" their pension funds wisely, funding an economy which they bankrupt, by transferring the wealth of the nation unwisely through bloated stimulus plans, which failed to grow jobs, but increased the nation's debt trillions of dollars; (you're kidding, right?)
Certainly, the brainstorms controlling the country have no economic plan to create wealth; but they are obviously chock-full-of-ideas how to redistribute the wealth of the nation. Like the dinosaurs, prominent government and burgeoning labor unions, will be extinct in the near future (they also have outlived their usefulness; and they have no novel ideas).
The Case of Mayor Bloomberg versus Dc37 is certain to attract Political Science students, for many years to come. Mayor Bloomberg transferred the New York City OTBC to New York State sovereignty in 2008. New York State's ambition to revive the New York City OTBC and return it to its Glory Days did not materialize.
On December 7, 2010, the New York State Senate voted the New York City OTBC out-of-business. More than 900 employees were needlessly assigned to the custody of their local unemployment offices; and OTB retirees "unethically" lost their health insurance. Dc37 protested the loss of retirees health insurance. Nevertheless, three Appellate Court decisions were unanimous. New York City had no "legal obligation" (it had a "moral obligation") to pay OTB retirees health insurance.
On May 27, 2011, the ruling was final. New York City OTB retirees health insurance was canceled. Dc37then lobbied Albany to restore OTB retirees health benefits. On June 22, 2011, OTB health Legislation was approved by the New York State Assembly and Senate. The health legislation then returned to the Assembly, where it remained until it arrived on Governor Cuomo's desk on or about Tuesday, September 13, 2011.
Historically, the bill journeyed from government employees to the Assembly, to the Senate, and back-checked to the Assembly. The health legislation finally completed its march on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. Now on Governor Cuomo's desk the bill meets its final obstacle. Will the health bill overcome its last hurdle? The answer to that question will be known sometime between Friday, September 16 and Friday, September 23, 2011.
The odds favor approval for the health legislation. There are three choices, two of which will achieve a positive outcome. A mathematician could calculate that the health bill has a 66 2/3rd percent success probability. Time will tell if the oddsmaker is correct.
It is the eve of settlement in Albany. Governor Cuomo has until Friday, September 23rd, midnight to act on the OTB health bill. The legislation had an uphill battle from its early roots until the present time. This health bill is essential to the health and welfare of retirees and their dependents.
(The liberal ideology advocates the words tolerance, compassion, and empathy.) The governor being a liberal-minded individual is not behaving like a liberal-minded person, at all. The OTB health bill is on his desk unsigned. The reason for his inaction is mind-boggling. Any fair-minded person can understand the urgency of supporting this vital health legislation.
Surely, a broad-minded ideologue like Governor Cuomo can support this proposal. Mr. Cuomo has one day to sign the health legislation into law. What he will do regarding this legislation is highly speculative--if he is just another, run-of-the-mill, politician.
Moral rectitude suffered defeat Friday, the 23rd of September. At approximately 6:00 pm Governor Cuomo unethically vetoed vital health legislation. The New York State Senate created the health legislation, to make amends, for its foolish decision to petition the New York City Off Track Betting Corporation to early retirement.
More than 1000 employees and 900 retirees unwillingly joined the solemn celebration. Victims of New York State Senate myopia, OTB retirees have been in a quandary, ever since. Many New York City OTB retirees, unwell and aging, do not satisfy Medicare age requirements. Ineligible to enroll in Medicare, retirees consider enrolling in Medicaid. The 2011 Medicaid monthly income guideline is $1410.83 ( for a family of two ). On average, OTB retiree monthly income is slightly higher. Therefore, OTB retirees are ineligible for Medicaid.
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo believe that it is ethical to avoid paying a debt. New York City and New York State promised to provide group health insurance to all New York City Off Track Betting retirees. Believing that the natural law is dead, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo, decided that it was a righteous-decision, not to provide health insurance to all New York City Off Track Betting retirees. The consequences of their decision have been far reaching, cutting deeply into the fiber of the human-family. Devestation to retirees and their dependents have been horrific. Today, many New York City OTB retirees are without health benefits. Some New York City Off Track Betting retirees are laying in hospital beds uninsured ( due to no fault of their own and circumstances beyond their control). Thank's Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo, two-peas-in-a-pod.
Governor Cuomo stated that a lack of funding by the legislature to pay for the OTB health benefit was the reason he vetoed the New York City OTB health bill. Getting wind of Governor Cuomo's statement, a top Dc37 union official, replied that Dc37 would petition Albany for a budget amendment, as soon as possible, to allay Mr. Cuomo's concern. Expect to see the return of the OTB health bill ( in some form ) when the Senate convenes early next year. Maybe, Dc 37 Local 2021 and Teamsters Local 858, will get it right, the second time around. In the meantime, all OTB retirees under age 65 years old, remain between a rock and a hard place ( without health benefits ). Congradulations to all concerned: Governor Cuomo, Dc37 Local 2021, Teamsters Local 858, The New York State Senate, and last but not least, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ( for a job poorly done).
It is in heart felt contrition that I write this letter. New York City OTB retirees' without health insurance, at this time in their lives, is horrible and life threatening.
Too young to enroll in Medicare and income too high to qualify for Medicaid, OTB retirees' are in dire straits. Having to decide whether to pay rent or health insurance premiums is most unsettling and unmanageable.
The State of New York guaranteed those health benefits to New York City OTB retirees, who earned them the hard-way; they worked for them. Working day and night, weekends and holidays, OTB retirees' slaved, with the understanding that they and their dependents would continue to receive health benefits, in retirement.
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo attempting to convince the court that the duty to pay those health benefits was the New York City Off Track Betting Corporation's, not the City or State, is far-fetched and wrong. The powers that be know that OTB health benefits, were the responsibility of the City of New York prior to 2008. When the City transferred OTB to New York State jurisdiction, the obligation to pay OTB retirees' health benefits shifted to the State of New York. Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo are trying to create a catch 22. By saying that it is neither the responsibility of the City or State to pay for OTB health benefits both, the mayor and governor are wrong; it is reminiscent of the blind leading the blind. The New York State Constitution guarantees OTB retirees' pension-benefits. The State of New York guaranteed OTB retirees' health benefits; (it is that simple.)
Local 858 Teamsters President said on you tube that OTB retirees' pay 25% of their monthly pension income for health benefits. I am under age 65. The cost of (COBRA) group health insurance is $1750.00 a month. My pension income is $1500.00 a month. The cost of health insurance is $250.00 more, a month, than my pension income.Do the math. The cost of health insurance is more than pension income ( 16.66% more to be exact). Therefore, I cannot afford to pay health benefits--which were promised to me by New York State.
(Today, my wife and I are without health insurance.) New York State broke its promise to provide health benefits to OTB retirees, when Governor Cuomo vetoed vital health legislation, S.4489. It is mind boggling to me that the people who were employed by the New York City OTBC 20, 30, or more years are now without heath benefits. Governor Cuomo is a heartless man. He set the Democratic Party back 50 years. Governor Cuomo and New York State have broken their promise--to provide health benefits--to New York City OTB retirees.
It is official: If you are a law abiding, middle-class, tax-paying elderly-citizen, who worked for New York City more than 30 years, you are a second class-citizen. (Therefore, you are not entitled to your hard-earned health benefits.)
The City and State would, if they could, terminate all pension benefits. Unfortunately, for the city and state, pension benefits are guaranteed and protected under the "New York State Constitution." Tough luck Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo--better luck next time.
Living in New York State, if you are retired from the New York City OTBC, is fatal to your health, especially, if you are under age 65.
ATTENTION: ALL OTB Retirees (And those affected by this issue)
Please contact me at FromTheGMan@gmail.com if you would like to appear on this news site, though a special feature article, to discuss this matter in greater detail.
I've noticed people have a great deal to say about bill S. 4489, and I would like to give you all a chance to state you case in a news story.
Your identities will be concealed, if desired. Please check out the other articles on this site relating to the Governor's decision.
Thank you!
Despite proponents of "genocide" in the Bloomberg and Cuomo administrations, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed two comprehensive OTB bills, on June 23.
A bill to open OTB parlors in New York City and a bill to restore OTB retirees' health benefits will be going to Governor Cuomo, for signage. The Governor said that he would sign a bill to restore OTB retirees' health benefits, if, an appropriation is in the bill, authorizing that those benefits be paid. The OTB Retirees' Health Bill meets the Governor's criterion, so, it is likely, the Governor will be signing that bill when it arrives on his desk. The fate of the Catskill Regional OTB Bill is uncertain, at this time.
The Court of Appeals will be deciding the Roberts v Paterson litigation, in one to three months. The tide seems to be turning for 1000 OTB retirees, who have been without health benefits, for 18 months. OTB retirees' have been pleading to the Bloomberg and Cuomo administrations to restore their vital health benefits, but their pleas have fallen on deaf-ears, thus far.
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