When we are young, we feel betrayed the first time our parents break a promise. Can you remember the first time this happened to you? Even when parents explain their rationale, it is unfathomable to us. Why? Because we believed them. We trusted their word and feel hurt and disappointed when our faith is undermined.
As we age, we continue to feel the same sense of hurt, pain, whenever that trust is broken. But when that broken promise is 50 years old and the consequences are deep and far-reaching, we are talking about a whole different level of suffering. This is what is happening now to 250,000 city workers and their families who have worked tirelessly and selflessly for their communities, a threat that has been looming over them for more than three years, the withdrawal of Medicare health care and substitution of a city-sponsored inferior Advantage plan. These city workers sacrificed higher salaries and benefits for the promise of good health benefits when they retired. The Intro 1096 bill would solidify that promise made nearly 50 years and fulfill the commitment made to workers over decades with no financial burden to the city.
Why is this broken promise so important? People who are ill will lose proactivity in their own care when they lose choice. It can alter survival rates. The option to select your own medical plan, not have one foisted on you, is known to improve health outcomes. Advantage plans strip you of choices, which can be life-altering.
If you have been going to a doctor you trust and are in treatment, you want to continue with that plan if there is potential. You have enough to deal with just getting through each day’s stresses, dealing with well-meaning friends and family. It is sometimes all you can do to just stay afloat and keep your head above water. I’ve been there and know what it’s like, but I had the advantage of dealing with a
life-threatening illness before there was the threat of my health care being withdrawn. I might not have survived if there was no Medicare plan because I had my choice of doctor and was in a clinical trial with treatment that dramatically increased my chances of survival. I am grateful every day but my heart breaks for those that may have the current plan withdrawn or be forced to pay outrageous sums to stay on Medicare. It is wrong to renege on a promise if the alternative is as bad as this one is. This promise must be kept and I pray the City Council and Mayor will.
