Oppose Retiree Health Care Cuts

OPPOSE RETIREE HEALTH CARE CUTS
Part S of S8305/A8805
Public Protection and General Government
Executive Budget Bill

The New York State AFL-CIO, representing 2.5 million union members, retirees, and their families oppose the above-referenced part of the executive budget proposal.

This proposal would eliminate the state’s share of retired state employee Income Related Monthly Adjustments (IRMA) beginning on January 1, 2025. This proposal has been repeatedly rejected by the legislature as it is an unfair increase in cost for those who can least afford it.

This proposal follows health insurance increases already put in place for retirees over many years. The vast majority of retired public employees live on modest and/or fixed incomes. Changes like this proposal can result in financial instability and in some cases poverty.

This federation not only urges the legislature to reject this proposal, but we urge the passage of legislation that would protect all public-sector retiree health insurance from such budgetary attacks in the future. School district employees already have such protections, and it is time we enact the same law for all other public-sector workers.

Therefore, this Federation urges this part of the executive budget proposal to be defeated.

For further information, contact the Legislative Department at 518-436-8516.