The Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) and the city have reached a tentative agreement with EmblemHealth/UnitedHealthcare on a new health care plan for in‑service and pre-Medicare New York City employees. The proposed plan, if approved, would replace the GHI CBP plan on Jan. 1, 2026. HIP HMO and other city health plans are not affected. 

This proposed plan — the NYC Employees PPO Plan (NYCE PPO) — is the product of months of intense negotiations. We used this process to address our growing frustrations with our current health care plan and create a better plan with stronger benefits. The proposed plan meets or exceeds our key goals by: 

• Keeping our current network of doctors and adding more
• Maintaining and expanding our benefits
• Expanding access to mental health care
• Protecting us from rising copays
• Locking in premium-free coverage for five years — a significant shift from our typical year-to-year contracts

Before the agreement can be finalized, it must undergo several reviews and votes, both within the UFT and the broader MLC. Here's what to expect in the coming month: 

Step 1: The member-led UFT Health Care Committee reviews the proposal and makes a recommendation for the Delegate Assembly. 
Step 2: The UFT Delegate Assembly considers that recommendation and votes on the plan. 
Step 3: The MLC votes on the plan, with the UFT casting its vote in line with the Delegate Assembly’s decision. 

This morning, we completed Step 1 when the UFT Health Care Committee voted unanimously to recommend the proposed health care plan to the Delegate Assembly.

We will be holding online information sessions on the proposed health care plan in the coming weeks: one for chapter leaders and delegates and another for all members. Please keep an eye out for your UFT email invitation to register.

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

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the improvements we were able to negotiate in this plan:

Keeping our current network of doctors and adding more 

• In New York City and the other eight downstate New York counties, EmblemHealth would provide both doctor and hospital coverage, allowing for continued, uninterrupted care from the doctors we already see within the EmblemHealth network.
• The plan’s network in this area would expand up to 78,000 providers.
• UnitedHealthcare would provide national coverage for all doctors and hospitals outside EmblemHealth’s covered area through its national network, which has 1.6 million providers.
• More than 200,000 city workers who currently see out-of-network doctors would now have these doctors covered in network.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) would remain in the proposed plan and our union’s concierge services at these two hospitals would remain available.

Maintaining and expanding benefits 

• All current plan benefits would be included in the new plan.
• Additional features include:
  • Wellness, behavioral health and disease management programs
  • Convenient virtual care and expanded telehealth options
  • Single ID card and member portal for all health care information
  • Easy-to-use mobile app

Expanding access to mental health care 

• The new plan’s network would expand to include 418,000 mental health providers nationwide.
• In-person and virtual access to a nationwide network of quality behavioral health partners offering evidence-based treatment options. These options would include:
  • Access to treatment and support for children, teens and adults
  • A full range of services including psychiatric care and treatment for eating disorders, substance abuse and addiction.

Protecting against rising copays 

• Expanded $0 copay options, with NYC Health + Hospitals joining AdvantageCare Physicians as preferred providers with no copays for most services.
• Other in-network copays would remain the same and we would be protected from copay increases under the extended health care contract.

Locking in premium-free coverage 

• Premium-free health care would be guaranteed for the next five years, instead of renewing year by year as we do currently.

See detailed information about this plan, including helpful FAQs, in the UFT health care information section of the website. 

Follow us at @ufthealthcare, our official health care Instagram account, for regular updates on this proposed health care plan and other important health care information.

This plan is ONLY for in-service city employees and pre-Medicare retirees and would replace only the GHI CBP plan. Medicare-eligible retirees’ health care will NOT be affected by this plan and is not changing in any way. Other city health plans such as HIP HMO are not affected either.