The bill noted 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 noted 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 would have reimbursed the city or its designee for the actual cost of benefits. Ultimately, the bill was vetoed by Governor Cuomo.
"I had written an August 10 letter to the Governor stating that I would be prepared to make additional appropriate budget cuts in spending or seek to further eliminate wasteful allocations in order to absorb the cost of S4489/A5785. I stand with the union members of DC 37 Local 2021 and Teamsters Local 858, who speak for the NYC OTB retirees now in crisis, who cannot continue monthly (COBRA) premiums, which exceed their monthly pension income," stated Senator Addabbo.
"Many of the 900 retirees, unwell and aging but who do not satisfy Medicare age requirements, are in the hospital and under unmanageable stress over how to pay their medical bills. Ineligible to enroll in Medicare, retirees have considered enrolling in Medicaid, only to be told that the average OTB retiree monthly income is slightly higher than the 2011 Medicaid monthly income guideline of $1,410.83 for a family of two. Once again, those retirees were ineligible for Medicaid. So today, these NYC OTB retirees are lying in hospital beds uninsured, through no fault of their own."
Addabbo continued by stating, "I'll fight along with the unions as we next propose a budget amendment, as soon as possible, to dispel the governor's concern that a lack of funding by the legislature to pay for the OTB health benefit was the reason he vetoed the bill. Expect to see the return of this OTB health bill in some form when the Senate convenes early next year. Until we get it right the next time, all OTB retirees under age 65 are between a rock and a hard place. No one should have to endure financial hardships and choose which benefits to leave behind.
"Dear Editor,
His tactics have proven that he is not the man that he claims to be. Quite the contrary, he is another typical politician who has decided to jump-ship at the first sign of inclement weather -- as he had done when he was the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary and spear-headed its irresponsible housing policies, which caused the 2008-2009 Great Depression.
Governor Cuomo is responsible for sending middle-class Americans, to the state Medicaid office, which slammed its door in OTB retirees' faces because their pension income was $9.17 more, than the Medicaid income guideline for a family of two.
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo have done a sterling job running middle-class citizens out of town, with nothing more than the shirts on their aching-backs. At the present time, NYC OTB retirees under age 65 are left high and dry, without health benefits.
Too young to enroll in Medicare and exceeding Medicaid income guidelines, OTB retirees have been hung out to dry, in sub-zero weather, and nobody seems to care. What else can I say?"
Image courtesy of nysenate.gov
