WHEREAS the UFT Delegate Assembly, at our December 2024 meeting, passed the resolution “No changes to UFT members' health care without Delegate Assembly approval”; and

WHEREAS the above-mentioned resolution guaranteed “that any significant changes to members’ health care be submitted to the Delegate Assembly for approval, that the changes will be clearly outlined in detail, and that the Delegate Assembly will receive the details of the proposed changes at least one month before being asked to vote on them”; and

WHEREAS the resolution further committed the UFT to “Convene a permanent UFT health care task force, with retired and in-service members of multiple caucuses to review all significant changes to health care and make recommendations to the Delegate Assembly”; and

WHEREAS such a task force has been convened and named the UFT Health Care Committee; and

WHEREAS the Health Care Committee said any plan must accomplish the following goals on behalf of UFT members and their families: 1) keep our current network of doctors and add more, 2) maintain and expand our benefits, 3) expand access to mental health care, 4) protect us from rising copays, and 5) lock in premium-free coverage for five years; and

WHEREAS on Aug. 28, 2025, the Municipal Labor Committee, including the UFT, the City of New York and EmblemHealth/UnitedHealthcare reached a tentative agreement on a new health care plan for in-service and pre-Medicare retirees; and

WHEREAS the proposed plan — the NYC Employees Preferred Provider Organization plan (NYCE PPO), the product of years of negotiations — meets these goals; and

WHEREAS the NYCE PPO also reduces the number of prior authorizations and increases the network of doctors and other providers for members, including pre-Medicare retirees and their families around the country; and

WHEREAS, the NYCE PPO provides for monthly oversight meetings, the findings of which can and will be shared with the UFT Health Care Committee; and

WHEREAS that the Delegate Assembly received the details of the proposed changes at least one month before being asked to vote on them; and

WHEREAS the UFT has held numerous events allowing members and delegates alike to learn about, ask questions and evaluate the plan; and

WHEREAS the UFT Health Care Committee has thoroughly reviewed the proposed changes to our health care and has unanimously recommended that the plan be adopted by the Delegate Assembly; therefore be it

RESOLVED that the UFT will continue in its prior commitments to “fight arduously to enact federal legislation that will protect against any diminishment of Medicare or Social Security benefits” and to “never agree to force any retired member into a Medicare Advantage Plan”; and be it further

RESOLVED that the UFT Delegate Assembly votes in favor of the NYCE PPO plan and directs UFT President Michael Mulgrew to likewise vote in favor at the appointed MLC meeting.