In a major development, the City of New York and EmblemHealth agreed to pay $53 million to settle a class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 250,000 elderly and disabled retired City workers enrolled in EmblemHealth’s GHI Senior Care Plan, lawyers for the workers said on Monday, Aug. 3. They said the suit was brought by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees and a handful of retirees, and the signed settlement papers were sent to New York County Supreme Court Justice Lyle E. Frank for the Court’s approval.

Lawyers said the settlement refunds co-pays that retirees were unlawfully charged for medical visits between January 1, 2022 through January 31, 2023. They said the $53 million represents 100 percent of the co-pays retirees had been charged. In addition to the monetary settlement, they said the City and EmblemHealth also agreed not to increase the existing $15 Senior Care co-pays through at least December 31, 2027.

Lawyers said the $53 million settlement amount is one of the largest class action settlements in New York City history. They said in addition, the lawsuit saved retirees an estimated $106 million through a temporary injunction, which halted the co-pays for two years.

They went on to say that the settlement is just the latest healthcare victory by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees which, they said, has, to date, collectively saved retirees around $3.16 billion since 2022.

 

They said the organization stopped the City from forcing retirees to pay for Senior Care, which they said the City itself has valued at $600 million per year; prevented the City and EmblemHealth from charging retirees co-pays in 2023 and 2024, which (according to EmblemHealth’s records) was worth around $106 million; and pioneered this latest class action settlement that’s returning $53 million to the pockets of retirees.

“This is a wonderful victory for retirees,” said Marianne Pizzitola, president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, one of the named plaintiffs. “The older people get, the more likely they are to need medical care, and co-pays are one of the worst, most regressive burdens making healthcare unaffordable. We hope Mayor Mamdani and City Council Speaker Menin recognize this and roll back co-pays.”

For his part, Jacob Gardener of Walden Haran Williams LLP, one of the lead attorneys for the retirees, said, “Retired City workers have proven once again that they will fight relentlessly, and successfully, to protect their healthcare rights, which have been under constant attack for the past five years.”

Meanwhile, Steve Cohen of Pollock Cohen LLP, the other lead attorney for the retirees, said, “It is another step forward in ensuring affordable healthcare for our seniors. Now we have to get the City Council and the Mayor to eliminate co-pays for seniors entirely. They were promised and deserve free healthcare in retirement.”

The settlement papers can be found here.

The New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees is a volunteer-led advocacy organization representing more than 250,000 retired New York City public servants and their families. The organization works to protect the healthcare benefits earned through decades of public service and advocates for preserving Traditional Medicare and honoring the promises made to New York City’s retirees.