By GREGORY N. HEIRES
The Retirees Association of DC 37 has launched a long-term campaign
to get the city to provide lifetime health coverage at no cost to
the spouses and domestic partners of municipal employees and retirees
who pass away.
"Nowadays we tell people 'Don't die!' " said Stuart Leibowitz,
president of the Retirees Association of DC 37. "If you pass
away, your spouse or partner is no longer eligible for city-provided
health insurance, and I'd be willing to bet that the majority of our
members and retirees don't know it," Mr. Leibowitz said.
"This lack of protection is a tremendous gap in our health-care
coverage. Thousands of survivors have lost tremendously important
benefits, which is a tragedy that the municipal labor unions must
address."
Concerned about the coverage gap, the association's executive board
voted Feb. 26 to take up the issue. Hundreds of retirees voted unanimously
for the campaign to secure spousal coverage after Mr. Leibowitz discussed
the matter at the association's March 12 general membership meeting.
At the meeting, retirees also voted to fight for a long-term care
benefit.
Last month, Mr. Leibowitz, 1st Vice President Audrey Iszard, Treasurer
Shaurain Farber and Corresponding Secretary Norman O. Davis also presented
the association's legislative priorities - including spousal coverage
- to the DC 37 Political Action Committee.
Mr. Leibowitz informed the DC 37 Executive Board about the campaign
and visited City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, the Council of Municipal
Retiree Organizations and the Council of Jewish Organizations in Civil
Service to drum up support.
Under a 1985 federal law known as COBRA, the spouse or domestic partner
of a deceased city employee or non-Medicare eligible retiree is entitled
to extend their health coverage for up to three years after the death
of their loved one. But the survivor must pay 102 percent of what
the city pays for coverage.
The COBRA payment is a major financial burden, especially if the deceased
employee or retiree was the sole family breadwinner. The least expensive
COBRA plan costs over $90 a month for basic coverage and the most
expensive plan costs more than $300 a month.
The city provides full medical coverage for retirees under 65 , which
is when Medicare kicks in. Medicare typically covers 80 percent of
the cost of health care, and the city pays the remaining 20 percent.
"Many of us dedicated our working lives to the city assuming
that we wouldn't get rich but that we would make a livable wage, which
would be complemented by a good benefits package," Mr. Davis
said.
"In deciding to work in the public sector, we really believed
we were entering into a moral covenant with the city," Mr. Davis
said. "The city would be doing the right thing by guaranteeing
lifelong health coverage to the spouses and domestic partners of its
employees and retirees."