Public Employee Press

Court blocks citys proposal for new health-care program

An Appellate Court denied the City's request to lift a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that blocked the City from unilaterally seeking proposals to change health care benefits, pending the outcome of the City's appeal of the lower's order granting the injunction.

The Appellate Division court issued its one-page ruling on Dec. 3. Coming less than a month before Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ends his last term of office, the ruling should effectively kill off the city's attempt to move forward on a new health-care program without consulting with municipal employee unions. The city would need permission of the Appellate Division to appeal its decision to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

City unions feared that a new program would open the way for the city to make fundamental changes to the health benefits of their members and retirees.

In September, the Municipal Labor Committee, which represents city unions on health-care matters, obtained a court order that blocked the city from proceeding with the request for proposals for the new program.

"Municipal unions are not opposed to the RFP process, but we objected to the city's go-it-alone action," said Willie Chang, senior director of health planning at the DC 37 Health and Security Plan. The city's action violated a 1992 agreement that requires it to discuss health-care RFPs with municipal unions, Evelyn Seinfeld, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., pointed out.