Retirees to Get $1G Medicare Reimbursement

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

More than 100,000 city retirees who were enrolled in Medicare Part B last year will receive reimbursements in August totaling more than $1,000 each.

STUART LEIBOWITZ: Need 100 percent.

The monthly reimbursement rate for 2006 is $88.50 per month, or $1,062 a year. Retirees whose spouses are also eligible will receive more than $2,100.

'We Appreciate It'

"We're always appreciative when we receive these reimbursements," said District Council 37 Retirees' Association President Stuart Leibowitz. "We will continue to do everything necessary to make sure we receive the 100-percent reimbursement we're entitled to."

Retirees aged 65 and older pay monthly premiums for Medicare Part B benefits through deductions from their Social Security checks. The city compensates them the following year. Monthly rates for 2005 were $78.20, resulting in checks of up to $938.40 last year.

Previously, the reimbursement rate was cut during the Koch administration and by 2000, retirees were only receiving two-thirds of the total payment. After mounting pressure from city retiree groups, the City Council passed a bill in 2001 to increase the payments. Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani vetoed the bill, but the Council under then-Speaker Peter F. Vallone Sr. overrode the veto.

Mr. Giuliani sued the City Council over the matter during his final months in office. Mayor Bloomberg dropped the lawsuit after he took office in 2002.