If you want shaggy dog stories, you can read Tom Murphy’s handout. If, however, you want to take matters into your own hands (or mouth, or whatever suits you), you probably want to go with Retiree Advocate. I’ve already featured Murphy’s handout, so this time I’ll highlight Retiree Advocate’s, in full below. I’m going to quote page one, point by point.
To stop being forced into any Medicare Advantage plan—This is a judgment call. Clearly, the civil thing to do would be to bend over, take the hit, and say, “Thank you Michael and Tom. May I have another?” If, however, you think it’s important to stand up and demand the best care available to you, the thing here would be to vote for Retiree Advocate.
To fight for the promises made to us by the UFT and the City. Now sure, you’ve spent your entire career expecting the medical benefits promised you. This notwithstanding, Michael Mulgrew has gone to many a gala luncheon to work out the details of this plan. Now sure, you’ll say he paid for it with his UFT credit card, and that’s your dues money. While that’s correct, the civil thing to do would be to ignore it and go with Aetna. After all, they’ve been around a long time, and did a great job pre-14th Amendment with that slave insurance.
On the other hand, if you have a life-threatening situation without the usual symptoms, like Diane Ravitch did, you might not want to be at the mercy of Aetna, which makes its profit by denying you. And while Mulgrew may have a moratorium on some pre-approvals for two years, we all know that, as time goes by, city health benefits get more expensive (for us) and less available (to us). Maybe you’re a gambler with your health, and you enjoy spinning the wheel and hoping for the best. If not, your move is to vote for Retiree Advocate, and tell your friends to do the same.
To keep the NYC benefits we now have. Well, sure, you like having those benefits. After all, once you meet a few hundred bucks deductible, you don’t even have copays anymore. But Mike Mulgrew worked hard to institute the copays Aetna will have, and the civil thing to do is pay them, and thank Mike Mulgrew for his efforts to impose them. Surely that’s what Murphy will do, and what with his city pension, his UFT pension, and whatever they pay him to pretend to represent us, he won’t be complaining. (That won’t be the case, of course, for those not in the elite Unity Caucus, let alone the many city workers getting by on pensions way lower than those of teachers.)
Personally, I feel like the luckiest guy on earth every time I walk out of a doctor’s office with no copay. That’s why I’m going to vote for Retiree Advocate, and tell all my retired friends to do the same.
To allow RTC votes on issues of vital importance to retirees. Again, this is not all that civil. The polite thing would be to let Mulgrew continue to make idiotic deals, give away our health care in exchange for sub-standard contracts that don’t affect us, and pay for his mistakes by getting us health insurance on the cheap. That’s what Tom Murphy, champion of civility, stands for.
On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person who sees it as an imperative to speak up when someone tries to stab you in the back, you might just want to place that X in the Retiree Advocate slate.
To continue SHIP, Si Beagle, and all RTC services. The civil thing would be to trust Murphy, our champion of civility, and hope for the best. On the other hand, you never know when Mike Mulgrew might want to pull these services so as to give more money to Eric Adams, our contractual adversary. Personally, I never thought he’d muster the audacity to go after Medicare. I was wrong. I’m voting for Retiree Advocate.
To create a union chapter that gives its members a voice. Now I understand that Tom Murphy doesn’t want to do that. Murphy wants to choose who gets to speak, if anyone, and keep the Medicare talk to an absolute minimum. He wants all of us to sit down, shut up, and say please and thank you.
On the other hand, as far as I can tell, the purpose of union is to amplify member voice. Anyone inclined to sit down, shut up, and hope for the best doesn’t really need a union. I have a big mouth. If it weren’t for union, I’d have lost my job the first time I spoke to a NY Times reporter. As a new retiree, I worry about benefits like Medicare, which I’ve worked almost forty years for and fully expect.
I am running with Retiree Advocate, and I am voting for Retiree Advocate. Please join us. My colleagues and I will represent your interests, not those of Murphy, Mulgrew, or Mayor Eric Frigging Adams.
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Great article. I am with you. I wish I could write as well as you. Anyway, I think we are going to do it and make Mulgree’s life very frustrating.