Public Employee Press

Chin-Marshall heads Health & Security Plan

Cynthia Chin-Marshall, the newly appointed administrator of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan, says protecting the union’s prescription drug benefit is her most pressing priority.

For years, the plan has struggled to provide its wide range of benefits despite the fast-rising cost of prescription drugs.

“My goal is to get the best bang for the buck to continue offering members and retirees one of the best benefit packages in the country,” Chin-Marshall said. Besides prescriptions, the union benefits include audiology, podiatry, counseling, dental, optical, short-term disability, legal and other services.

Chin-Marshall grew up in Jamaica and lived in England before immigrating to the United States to study. She earned her undergraduate degree at Rutgers University and received a master’s degree in 1980 from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

While at Columbia, Chin-Marshall interned at DC 37’s Personal Service Unit, and after she graduated, the Health and Security Plan hired her as a Social Worker. She went on to manage the Brooklyn Dental Center and then the Manhattan Center. In 1994, she became associate administrator of the plan, overseeing daily operations of its units.

At DC 37, Chin-Marshall also serves as co-chair of the Black History Committee. Her commitment to labor, she said, was one of the principal reasons she focused her career in a union setting rather than more traditional social services.