NYC MUST PAY CITY EMPLOYEES, RETIREES AND DEPENDENTS THE FULL COST, UP TO THE STATUTORY CAP, OF ANY HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN THE CITY OFFERS (CT APP).
The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Wilson, determined NYC was required to pay city employees, retirees and dependents the full cost, up to the statutory cap, of any health insurance plan the city offers:
At issue on this appeal are the portions of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 12-126 requiring New York City (“City”) to pay, for active employees, retirees and their dependents, “the entire cost of health insurance coverage,” defined as “[a] program of hospital-surgical-medical benefits,” in an amount “not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis.” The statute requires that the City’s program includes “hospital[,] surgical [and] medical benefits.” The statute also requires the City to pay the full cost of the program, so long as that cost does not exceed the comparator in the statute. The question in this case is what section 12-126 requires the City to do when it offers more than one health insurance plan to employees and retirees. Petitioners argue that section 12-126 requires the City to pay, up to the statutory cap, for any plan it offers. The City contends that its section 12-126 obligation is satisfied if it pays up to the cap for one health insurance plan providing hospital, surgical and medical benefits. It argues that it may offer additional plans but has no statutory obligation to pay any portion of their cost, and explains that when it has paid for additional plans in the past, it has done so because it agreed to in collective bargaining, not because it was statutorily required to do so. The parties also disagree as to which health insurance plan sets the statutory cap for Medicare-eligible retirees.
We hold that section 12-126 requires the City to pay up to the statutory cap for any plan it offers to employees and retirees. Matter of NYC Org. of Pub. Serv. Retirees, Inc. v Campion, 2024 NY Slip Op 06291, CtApp 12-17-24