{"id":375283,"date":"2026-04-04T21:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/375283\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T21:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:02:14","slug":"why-thousands-of-city-workers-could-lose-newyork-presbyterian-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/375283\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Thousands of City Workers Could Lose NewYork-Presbyterian Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Approximately 40,000 New York City civil servants, retirees and their dependents may lose in-network coverage at NewYork-Presbyterian\u2019s hospital network as early as next week, as the embattled hospital system continues a drawn-out dispute with insurer EmblemHealth over rates.<\/p>\n

The United Federation of Teachers, the city\u2019s second-largest public sector union<\/a>, accused the hospital of engaging in a \u201cpower play,\u201d demanding \u201csky-high\u201d reimbursement rates to renew its contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The union on Thursday sent notices to members enrolled in EmblemHealth plans warning that they could lose access by April 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNewYork-Presbyterian<\/a> is trying to boost profits with no regard for how its price gouging hurts working families,\u201d UFT president Michael Mulgrew said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"UFTUnited Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, seen here with Zohran Mamdani on the campaign trail in Elmhurst, Queens on Sept. 4, 2025, accused NewYork-Presbyterian of \u201cprice gouging\u201d on union healthcare. Credit: Katie Honan\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

The coverage spat comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice sued NewYork-Presbyterian, claiming that it used its leverage to \u201cstifle\u201d competition among health insurance companies to keep prices high.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Emblem and NewYork-Presbyterian can\u2019t reach a deal, tens of thousands of city workers and their families enrolled in the city\u2019s HIP-VIP, HIP-HMO, and NYCE PPO health plans will lose access to coverage at the hospital giant\u2019s entire downstate health system. Members enrolled in the city\u2019s GHI Senior Care program would not be affected, the UFT said.<\/p>\n

NewYork-Presbyterian and EmblemHealth stressed that talks are ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewYork-Presbyterian is currently in-network with EmblemHealth and in negotiations to reach an agreement,\u201d hospital spokesperson Angela Karafazli said in a statement. \u201cWe believe that New York City employees covered by EmblemHealth deserve access to the hospitals of their choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said EmblemHealth spokesperson Alex Gomez: \u201cWe are working hard to preserve and sustain affordable coverage for New York City workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HundredsHundreds of unionized nurses went strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital on 168th Street after management with several private hospital providers failed to reach an agreement with healthcare workers across their NYC locations, Jan. 12, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

Anti-trust suit targets hospital giant<\/p>\n

In its March 26 lawsuit, the Trump DOJ alleged that NewYork-Presbyterian artificially keeps costs high by using its leverage to prevent health insurance companies from selling plans at lower prices.<\/p>\n

The suit is the result of an anti-trust probe launched in 2025<\/a>. The UFT says NewYork-Presbyterian charges 77% more for medical services than other New York hospital systems. (Karafazli said that the DOJ\u2019s claims are without merit.)<\/p>\n

The dispute between Emblem and NewYork-Presbyterian also comes on the heels of a bitter nurses\u2019 strike at three of the hospital\u2019s campuses<\/a> in Upper Manhattan, which ended in late February<\/a> after more than five weeks \u2014 the longest and largest strike of its kind in city history.<\/p>\n

First Deputy Mayor Dean F<\/a>u<\/a>leihan<\/a> noted that Emblem and NewYork-Presbyterian had agreed to a short-term extension through April 10 from a previous April 7 deadline, but added that \u201cstopgap measures are not a substitute for a fair, lasting agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CityCity retiree leader Marianne Pizzitola helped lead the fight against switching union health plans to Medicare Advantage. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

The administration of then-Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> announced last summer it had reached an agreement on a new, cost-saving health plan for the city\u2019s 750,000 employees and pre-Medicare<\/a> retirees jointly managed by UnitedHealthcare and EmblemHealth.<\/p>\n

EmblemHealth and NewYork-Presbyterian began their negotiations on a new contract later that year. The plan, which went into effect on January 1 despite lawsuits<\/a> seeking to stop the switch, is projected to save taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a year.<\/p>\n

Union healthcare promises threatened<\/p>\n

When a consortium of public-sector union leaders approved the plan in September<\/a>, they said it would save money while preserving existing coverage. The plan was ultimately approved by 88% of members of the Municipal Labor Committee, despite concerns from a number of unions, including the Police Benevolent Association, which voted to reject the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to improve benefits, expand the network of providers while allowing our members to keep their existing doctors, and maintain premium-free health care without increasing out-of-pocket costs \u2014 especially important in an economic climate where every cent counts for our members\u2019 bottom line,\u201d the Municipal Labor Committee said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

Now, those promises are threatened by the standoff between NewYork-Presbyterian and Emblem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"RetiredRetired city workers rally outside City Hall against a plan to change their healthcare plans, Oct. 23, 2024. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Henry Garrido, the executive director of District Council 37 and a co-chair of the labor committee, did not immediately return a request for comment. Mulgrew, also a co-chair of the labor committee, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur standard has always been high-quality, premium-free health care for city employees and retirees,\u201d Mulgrew said in his Thursday statement. \u201cOther hospitals have worked with New York City to safeguard this benefit. NewYork-Presbyterian needs to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marianne Pizzitola, the president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said the dispute is \u201ca major concern\u201d for her members, who have been operating under the assumption that their care would not be disrupted under the new health plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are now three months into this health plan, and now [the agreement between Emblem and NewYork-Presbyterian] is expiring in seven days,\u201d Pizzitola said.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Approximately 40,000 New York City civil servants, retirees and their dependents may lose in-network coverage at NewYork-Presbyterian\u2019s hospital…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[16614,163,521,1307,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-375283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-eric-adams","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-hospitals","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}