What you should know
- Proposed Plan Would Provide Expanded Network of Doctors, More Coverage for pre-Medicare Retirees Living Outside of New York City Area, While Maintaining Premium-Free Coverage with Continued High-Quality Care for City Employees
- Active Employees and Pre-Medicare Retirees to Have Expanded Network While Potentially Saving New York City Taxpayers up to $1 Billion Per Year
- If Approved and Implemented, Plan Would Mark First Successful Procurement for New Primary Health Plan for City Employees in Over 40 Years
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion today announced the joint proposal from EmblemHealth and United Healthcare for a new health plan for active city employees, pre-Medicare retirees, and their dependents is being sent to the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) for ratification. The city, in collaboration with the MLC, has negotiated directly with Emblem and United since they were selected on June 2, 2025. The proposed plan would continue to provide high-quality, premium-free coverage along with an expanded network of doctors and mental health specialists across the nation. If approved by the MLC, and finalized through the city’s contracting process, the new plan would be effective on January 1, 2026.
The proposed plan is the product of a years-long procurement process — the first in over four decades — conducted in collaboration with the MLC, and would support 75 percent of the city’s workforce and their families, ensuring 750,000 employees, pre-Medicare retirees, and their dependents have the most high-quality, affordable, health care options available. Additionally, the proposed plan would cut the cost of the city’s primary health plan by more than 10 percent — saving taxpayers up to $1 billion — while simultaneously expanding, instead of reducing, benefits and coverage.
“Our city employees dedicate their lives to making our city a better place and looking out for their fellow New Yorkers. They deserve the absolute best health care and benefits we have to offer, and, with this plan, we are giving them exactly that,” said Mayor Adams. “We are proud to enter the next phase in the process to deliver better quality health care to 750,000 employees, retirees, and their dependents. This will give enrollees more options in selecting their doctors, including for those living outside of New York City, while keeping health care affordable and saving the city as much as $1 billion. I want to thank Commissioner Campion and our union partners for coming together to tackle this dynamic issue, which only our administration was willing to take on.”
“I am excited to announce that, following intensive negotiations with EmblemHealth and United Healthcare, this proposed plan is being sent to the MLC for approval. This plan will leverage the city's purchasing power to provide more doctors, more mental health providers, and a broad national network to 750,000 employees, pre-Medicare retirees, and dependents while saving up to $1 billion per year,” said OLR Commissioner Campion. “Thank you to MLC Executive Board members Harry Nespoli, Henry Garrido, Michael Mulgrew, Gregory Floyd, and Gloria Middleton for working with us during this negotiation, and we look forward to the MLC’s vote.”
Under Emblem and United’s proposal, city employees, dependents, and pre-Medicare retirees in the New York City area will have access to more primary care doctors, more specialists, more nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and more mental health providers. Additionally, over 80,000 covered members living outside the New York area — for the first time — will have access to a broad national network, especially benefitting pre-Medicare retirees who have moved out of the region and are often forced to go out of network for coverage or pay a premium for a plan that provides coverage where they live. Overall, over 200,000 covered members have used doctors who are currently out of network and will be in network under the proposed plan.
Emblem and United’s proposed plan leverages the 750,000 covered lives under this plan and is projected to save the city nearly $1 billion per year, stabilizing health care costs that have sharply increased in recent years.
The proposed plan would — also for the first-time ever — give New York City a self-funded insurance plan, the standard for all large employers, including the New York State Health Insurance Plan covering state employees, greatly reducing the costs of providing the plan with no effect on the quality of coverage.
The award of the contract is subject to the successful finalization and approval of a contract through the city’s procurement process.
Today’s news builds on the city and MLC’s collaboration over the past decade to continue to provide high-quality, premium-free health care coverage to city employees, retirees, and dependents, while simultaneously protecting taxpayer dollars by reigning in health care costs. These efforts have allowed city employees to continue to receive their health insurance at no premium cost to them, a benefit few other employers offer.