Little Noticed Rule Change is Helping to Fast-Track New Health Plan for Active NYC Workers

The Adams administration and Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] are close to replacing the current GHI CBP plan covering city workers, pre-Medicare, and their dependents thanks to a PPB rule change made in May replacing the requirement for public hearings on city contracts.

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By Joe Maniscalco

The new health plan for all active New York City municipal workers is moving ahead this week without the benefit of a public hearing that would’ve been mandatory had a quick rule change made back in May not been implemented.

Last week, the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC], the umbrella organization acting on behalf of New York City’s public sector unions, okayed the NYC Employees PPO Plan over objections from concerned union members and public watchdogs who insist there are unwanted aspects of the proposed contract that are detrimental to recipients. 

The NYCE PPO seeks to replace the current GHI CBP plan for active city workers, pre-Medicare retirees, and their dependents, and if successfully executed, put it into effect Jan. 1, 2026.

Mayor Eric Adams touted the new municipal health plan on Sept. 30, immediately after the MLC voted to support it, saying the collaboration with his administration and the MLC “will allow city employees to continue to receive health insurance at no premium cost to them, a benefit few other employers offer.”

Those objecting to the fast-tracked contract warn, however, that the joint deal with Emblem Health and United Healthcare will also subject recipients to a third party group called “UMR” which will actually determine claims through the increased use of Artificial Intelligence and a further “Clean Claims” system that profit-driven insurance company executives will use to delay or deny any claim they choose.

The public has until 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 8 to absorb and comment on a heavily redacted version of the NYCE PPO agreement posted online. That voluminous 272-page document can be found here. William Fowler, deputy press secretary for Mayor Adams, tells Work-Bites that the Office of Labor Relations [OLR], will “consider” the submitted comments after the public comments period has concluded, but that none of the comments submitted to the city will be made public.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander will then have 30 days to consider registering the NYCE PPO agreement after receiving it from the Mayor’s Office.

But that’s it—that’s the extent of the approval process for a pact that will impact the lives of some 750,000 New Yorker City workers, pre-Medicare retirees, and their dependents.

Passage of the NYCE PPO would have at least required some kind of public hearing had the Procurement Policy Board [PPB]—the local governing body responsible for overseeing the procurement of goods, services, and construction by the City of New York—had not switched up the rules requiring public hearings this past spring.

Fowler confirmed that is the case, in an email to Work-Bites received on Oct. 6.

As per the PPB: “Effective May 21, 2025, New York City Charter §326 will be amended by New York State law (chapter 483 of the Laws of 2024) to replace the retirement for public hearings with a requirement for public notice and comment for any contract for goods, services or construction in excess of on hundred thousand dollars to be awarded by other than competitive sealed bidding or competitive sealed bids from prequalified vendors.”

New York State Senator Luis R. Sepúlveda [D-32nd District] and Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar [D-38th District], a former advisor to Mayor Adams, sponsored legislation to change the rules on contracts replacing the requirement for public hearings with a simple public notice and an online comment period. That effort happened during the 2003-2004 legislative session. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the change into law last fall.

The Senate version of the bill says the effort is meant to “streamline procurement, speed up the City's ability to deliver for New Yorkers, and increase access to the public to the procurement process,” and that “this legislation would amend the Charter to provide for an online public comment period instead of a public hearing.”

It goes on to note that, “Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.”

The Mayor’s Office declined to comment any further on the issue when asked. 

Elected officials might still be able to call for a public hearing on the NYCE PPO proposal despite the PPB’s rule change made in May. Work-Bites reached out to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Council Member Justin Brannan, chair of the Finance Committee, for comment and will update this story as it develops.