The Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) and the city reached a tentative agreement with EmblemHealth and UnitedHealthcare on Aug. 28 on a new health care plan for in‑service city workers, pre-Medicare city retirees and their families.

The proposed plan, if approved, would replace the GHI CBP plan, starting on Jan. 1, 2026. HIP HMO and other city health plans would not be affected.

The new plan — called the New York City Employees PPO Plan (NYCE PPO) — is the product of months of intense negotiations. The municipal unions and the city used a negotiated acquisition process to go back and forth with EmblemHealth/UnitedHealthcare, the finalist in the bidding process, to hammer out a better plan with stronger benefits.

“By having unions at the negotiating table — a rarity in the health care world — we were able to preserve and enhance the quality coverage we already have, keep it premium-free and expand the number of doctors in our networks,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

The member-led UFT Health Care Committee voted to recommend the proposed health care plan to the Delegate Assembly.

There are two more steps before the agreement can be finalized:

1. The Delegate Assembly will vote on the plan in a special DA at the end of September.

2. The MLC will vote on the plan, with the UFT casting its vote in line with the Delegate Assembly’s decision.

The current network of EmblemHealth doctors in the GHI CBP plan would remain in network under the new plan, and NYCE PPO would offer 14,000 more in-network providers in New York City and the other eight downstate New York counties. UnitedHealthcare would provide additional coverage outside that area through its national network, which has 1.6 million providers.

The new plan would offer a much wider array of in-network mental health services, too. NYCE PPO would cover 39,000 behavioral health providers in New York State alone, up from 12,000 in the GHI CBP plan.

The current in-network copays in the GHI CBP plan would remain the same, with the addition of copay-free health care options at NYC Health + Hospitals.

Prior authorizations would decrease by 50% in the new plan. Prior authorizations in the current plan that were removed include some of the most frequently used services, such as certain MRIs, CT scans, orthopedic surgeries, office-based dermatology, pain injections and home health visits.

If approved, the new contract would have a term of five years, locking in premium-free health care for that period.

To ensure members have access to the care they need, a review board, which includes MLC members, would monitor implementation of the plan.

“This is an important moment for us as UFT members,” said Mulgrew. “Maintaining high-quality, premium-free health care has been our top priority in these negotiations, and we are confident that the New York City Employees PPO Plan, if approved, will enable us to realize that goal and provide the kind of health benefits that our members and their loved ones deserve.”

See detailed information about the proposed plan, including an FAQ, in the UFT health care information section of the UFT website.

Follow  the union’s official health care Instagram account at @ufthealthcare for regular updates on the proposed plan and other important health care information.