an organization of retired new york city police officers

An organization of retired New York City Police Officers

Next General Meeting Tuesday, March 03rd, 2020

Moose Lodge Family Center 6191 Rock Island Rd, Tamarac Meeting starts at 7:00 PM Sharp

The President’s Message CHAPLAINS Chaplain Ray Smith LEGAL Michelle Gomez, Esq. Committees: EDITOR Warren Sam HONOR GUARD Joseph Scimeca PROMOTIONS Alan Berkowitz Tom Puglisi Tom Puglisi, Jr. MEMBERSHIP Ryan Dean COMMUNICATIONS Phil Valles WEBSITE Ryan Dean 50 / 50 Raffle Annette Finkelstein

PAST PRESIDENTS Paul Mannino 1981 Sy Silver** 1982 Bill Schilling** 1983 Ray McDonnell** 1984/5 Mike Borrelli 1986/95/96 Ron Kavanagh** 1987/88/92 Paul Barasch 1989/2013 Bill Bett** 1990 Paul Levy** 1990/91 Frank Tooley ** 1993/94 Richard Lapp 1997/98 Robert Izzo 1999/00 Alan Berkowitz 2001/08/11/12 Louis Weiser** 2009/10 **DENOTES DECEASED

PRESIDENT Martin Finkelstein VICE PRESIDENT Daniel Farrell SECRETARY Christine McIntyre TREASURER Dennis Lydting SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Thomas Puglisi DIRECTORS Alan Berkowitz Ryan Dean Tim Kennedy Warren Ostrofsky Joe Scimeca Phil Valles

THE BLOTTER

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The President’s Message Our March 3rd meeting will feature Clearlyderm Dermatologists & Chen Medical Centers. They will provide us with medical related information and products that are geared toward senior citizens’ health and benefits. Our last meeting had much better attention and audience behavior. Let’s get a little better so that we’re as close to perfect receptors as possible. We had a good turnout and a productive meeting. We hope all enjoyed the presentation. This is your club, but it requires funding. The board can’t run the club on work, alone. Dues paying members don’t want unpaid members to always attend without paying. I don’t mean the occasional guest or members of other 10-13’s. Let’s get the dues paid and encourage attendees to join. Great information and some helpful providers are available at meetings. Come on down and immerse yourself.

Participate and spread the word to other South Florida retirees, so that they may join the club. We owe it to retirees, especially the senior citizens among us, to maintain the 10-13ing. Deteriorating health, malnutrition, lack of shelter, fear, depression, senility, isolation, boredom, non-productivity, and financial incapacity are the most common problems that senior citizens all over the world face today.

We can share info that might help the rest of us. Send us important information and resources, so that we might share it with all. Support 10-13 by contributions, volunteering your time and enlisting members. Attend meetings and help one another. Let’s all perpetuate this great organization. We have a great meeting arrangement with the Moose Lodge. Let’s keep on treating their lodge with respect and consideration. We’re almost perfect on policing the tables after meetings…they really appreciate the cooperation. Many thanks to our board and committees, our honor guard, sponsors, political partners, affiliate organizations, you the members, our families and a special thanks to Chaplain Ray Smith for all the continuing ”10-13ing”. Our best to all of you …. - Martin

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Your Broward Board, Police & City Numbers Martin Finkelstein, Pres. 954-977-3880 PBA NY Office 1-212-233-5531 Dan Farrell, VP. 954-871-7000 DEA NY Office 1-212-587-9120 Christine McIntyre, Sec. 561-703-0349 PBA Toll free 1-877-844-5842 Dennis Lydting, Treas. 954-973-3083 SBA 1-212-226-2180 Thomas Puglisi, Sgt. AA 954-548-9872 LBA/CEA 1-212-964-7500 Alan Berkowitz, Dir. 954-816-8163 LBA/SOC 1-212-964-7500 Ryan Dean, Dir. 954-913-3977 ID card Section 1-646-610-5150 Tim Kennedy, Dir. 954-263-0798 NYPD 10-13 Broward 1-954-977-3880 Warren Ostrofsky, Dir. 954-341-5575 Joe Scimeca, Honor Guard 954-720-2111 Phil Valles, Dir. 954-822-2824 Social Security 1-800-772-1213 Frank Orefice, Emeritus 954-977-3880 NYC Health Line 1-800-521-9574

Operations (Death) 1-646-610-5580 Chaplain Ray Smith 954-254-9492 Dr. John Halpern, Surgeon 954-553-1065 Medicare 1-800-633-4227 Michelle Gomez, Esq. 954-370-9970 VA benefits Assist 1-800-827-1000

Blue Cross of NY 1-800-433-9592 Employee Health 1-212-306-7600 1-212-513-0470 1-212-206-7300 Article 2 Pension 1-866-692-7733 Health & Welfare 1-212-608-9671 1-212-693-5100 Health Insurance & Eyeglasses GHI 1-800-358-5500 Empire Blue Cross 1-800-433-9592 Davis Vision 1-800-999-5431 TRANSIT CONTACTS: Transit Police ID Cards: 718-610-4629 NYCERS (Within NY) 347-643-3000 (Outside NY) 877-669-2377 Metro Pass: 347-643-8312/8310 NYCTP Retirees Assoc.: [email protected] Websites: Medicare: www.medicare.gov Veterans Admin: www.va.gov Social Security: www.ssa.gov

Taps for departed members Broward 10-13

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MEMBERSHIP 2020

Membership dues for 2020 are due. Annual dues are $40 or $45 for new members. (That includes your annual dues of $40.00 plus $5.00 initiation/reinstatement fee). If you are a current member, please simply mail a check for $40 to the address below. If you are not a member and would like to become a member, please complete the application on the next page and mail to the club at: NYPD BROWARD 10-13 CLUB INC. 6009 NW 10th STREET Margate, FL 33063 Telephone (954) 977-3880 You can also download a copy of the application by clicking this link: NYPD Broward 10-13 Membership Application Please include a check in the amount of $45 made payable to: NYPD BROWARD 10-13 CLUB INC.

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NYPD’s oldest retired detective celebrates 103rd birthday The NYPD’s oldest living retired detective worked during some of New York City’s most crime-ridden years — but as he turned 103-years-old Friday, he recalled a single joyful memory that has stuck with him all these years.

“I think about the old times. Bad ones, good ones,” Nicholas Calabrese said surrounded by a group of 30 cops and friends who were in awe at his life story and the detective career during the 1970s.

Calabrese, who celebrated his birthday at the Throgs Neck Rehabilitation Center in the Bronx, said he often thought about a woman he helped give birth on 116th Street all those years ago and named her child after him.

“A kid runs up to me and says, ‘My mother needs you,'” he recalled.

The cop followed the kid into the house, through the kitchen and into a room where a pregnant woman was about to give birth, Calabrese said to the crowd.

“She asks me what my name is, and we delivered the baby right there, and she named him after me, Nicholas,” he said.

Detectives’ Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo said Calabrese was a “true hero” who “served under New York City’s transit police as a detective at a very difficult time in this city when crime was at its maximum in the 1970s.”

“His age reflects the same age as the union that represents him, and we are truly honored and proud to be here today,” DiGiacomo said. “To aspire to the rank of detective as a transit police officer, it was very difficult to do.”

The guest of honor took all the praise in — telling The Post he was happy to be around so many people he cared about.

“I feel good. I think about if I’m going to be here next year … I hope so,” Calabrese said.

Bob Lappe, a retired officer who volunteers at the nursing home, spent a lot of time listening to Calabrese’s stories.

“He’s an inspiration to us all, and the stories that he has, he could go for days with some of the things that he’s seen. It’s truly incredible.”

Lappe recalled bringing Calabrese to a Yankees game and having him on the field before the game.

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New Law: HOAs Can't Prohibit Police Vehicles TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (AP) — Homeowners associations in Florida are now explicitly prevented from banning marked law enforcement vehicles from parking in their neighborhoods.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday that protects law enforcement vehicles from HOA rules. The legislation ( SB 476 ) passed unanimously in the House and Senate earlier this month.

Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Palm Harbor, and Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, filed the bill last fall after a Clearwater police officer was told by her HOA that she could no longer park her assigned patrol vehicle in her driveway.

Associations can prohibit commercial vehicles from parking in driveways, though a 2005 opinion from the Florida Attorney General's Office states that a law enforcement vehicle is not a commercial vehicle.

NYPD has officially gone digital with new app replacing paper Old paper logs used by NYPD officers to track their daily activity have now been replaced by an app on cops’ phones, officials revealed Monday.

But the woman who made it happen told The Post it was no easy feat to convince the 175-year-old department to ditch the traditional pen and paper method to join the 21st century.

“When I told people that this is what we were going to do and this is what we should do, people laughed at me. One person said, ‘You go get em, kid,’ ” said Jessica Tisch, who spearheaded the upgrade in her former post as the NYPD’s technology chief.

“I don’t think people thought it was something that would work.”

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Cops had been scribbling down the details about the issues they confronted throughout their day in leather binders.

But Tisch — who now heads the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications — believed the laborious paper method needed to be tossed for something more efficient and began pushing for the technology a few years ago.

“One of my pet peeves is seeing all these inefficient processes in the police department, meaning processes that could be better with the use of technology,” Tisch said. “For me one of the most glaring was the activity log.”

“Imagine how many activity logs officers use every year,” she said of the NYPD’s roughly 36,000 members. “So the activity log for me for a very long time was one of the most appealing candidates for modernization. For me it was like the holy grail.”

Tisch says she initially received pushback from those around her at NYPD headquarters in 1 Police Plaza when she proposed the digital log.

But the brass warmed to the idea when they realized it would make it easier to comply with the state’s new discovery law, which requires district attorneys to share detailed information about crimes with defense attorneys within 15 days.

It also gives bosses a way to see exactly what cops are doing, and links up with a separate 911 app on officers’ phones.

The department started to roll out the e-log city-wide in early January after test runs in a few precincts, and it is now on every cop’s department-issued phone.

“As of today, everyone is supposed to use the digital activity log,” Tisch said. “The paper books will no longer be authorized.”

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NYPD employs nurses in city’s fight to end homeless crisis NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday that the department has hired nurses for the first time to assist cops in dealing with the city’s street homeless crisis.

“We have hired nurses in the NYPD. Nurses are going out with police officers,” Shea said during a Citizens Crime Commission breakfast in Hudson Yards.

The top cop said the nurses will be alongside cops “not from a law enforcement perspective, but from a medical perspective, too, interacting with those [homeless] individuals.”

“What we’re doing here, and I think it’s a great story, is going out to some of these locations with medical professionals — nurses — and making a determination: Is this person in need of medical services?” said Shea. “Are they a danger to themselves or others? Do they need help?”

Shea noted that the department has “brought over 100 people with that very narrow scenario — in addition to all the work being done by the Department of Health and others — and referred them for medical treatment.”

“This is a new age,” the police commissioner said, adding that “based on data and based on complaints,” the department knows where “many of the homeless congregate.”

He noted that “being homeless by itself is not a crime and what we’re running into many times is mental illness.”

“We’re running into people that maybe for a variety of reasons don’t want to go to a shelter,” Shea said. “Sitting on a sidewalk is not a crime. It’s not a summons-able offense. They have to be literally blocking the entire sidewalk.”

Shea went on to say that “there’s a lot of nuances there with the law backed up constitutionally where we have to abide by it.” It was not immediately clear when the NYPD hired the nurses or how many.

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Bill de Blasio dismisses critics who think NYC is ‘going to get unsafe’ Mayor Bill de Blasio angrily defended his record on public safety Tuesday morning,

dismissing anyone who criticizes him as anti-cop.

“Anyone who bets against the NYPD, anyone who bets the city is going to get unsafe,

they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about,” Hizzoner raged in a testy interview

on “Good Day New York.”

When show co-host Lori Stokes asked if “they have equal faith in you,” de Blasio

snapped, “Ugh, give me a break!”

He then raged against “loud individuals in police unions” and said he’d like “more

respect for the average officer.”

Ed Mullins, head of the NYPD sergeants union, is under internal investigation for

tweeting a declaration of “war” against the mayor.

De Blasio dismissed New Yorkers who say they feel unsafe, pointing to declining crime

and his decision to bulk up the police force.

“I mean, come on, Lori, this isn’t a game. How do you put more than 2,000 more

officers on patrol and crime goes down six years in a row and people are trying to do

this whole hype about, ‘Ohhh, I don’t feel safe.'”

The mayor allowed that “some people don’t feel safe, I want them to feel safe,” but

suggested they weren’t being serious.

At a Forest Hills, Queens, town hall last week, one resident told the mayor, “New York

City is becoming crime city,” and another said, “Mr. Mayor, I do not feel safe.”

The Big Apple saw an increase in shootings and murders last year, but the overall rate of

major felony crimes declined.

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Subway crimes, including felonies, rise sharply since last year Subway crimes spiked this January compared to the same month last year — and the

number of robberies more than doubled, police said Monday.

There were 261 major felonies recorded in the subway system this January — as

opposed to 201 in January 2019, according to NYPD data shared at the MTA’s board

monthly transit committee meeting.

Of the 75 robberies reported, the NYPD made 58 arrests, Transit Bureau Assistant Chief

Vincent Coogan said. Last January there were only 35 robberies with 31 arrests,

according to the NYPD.

Coogan tried to downplay the rising numbers — but admitted that crime is typically

lower in the first quarter of the year.

“We are catching the people who commit these robberies, even though there is an

increase,” Coogan told board members.

“We did pick up earlier this year, but there were historically low numbers for the past

few years.”

Most of the spike came from two transit districts spanning Willimasburg, Ridgewood,

Cypress Hills, East New York and Canarsie, he said.

“We deploy our people to where the crime is happening. We reassigned them to

Brooklyn. The crime has now subsided, so we feel that worked,” Coogan said.

One straphanger who testified at Monday’s meeting said he’d been spooked by a recent

experience where his cellphone was stolen right out of his hands on an E train in

Queens.

“I don’t feel safe riding the subways,” Jason Anthony Pineiro told board members. “I

don’t feel safe because there’s no security cameras on the mezzanines or platforms.”

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Asked what the department thinks is behind the spike, an NYPD spokeswoman noted

that “there are a small number of habitual transit recidivists who have been repeatedly

arrested by our officers, but are issued desk appearance tickets and then commit

further offenses.”

She pointed specifically to serial subway scammer Charles Barry — who was arrested for

the 141st time last week,

NYPD issues new strict social media policy as it investigates leaks The NYPD has issued a new strict social media policy for its officers — as the top brass tries to tamp down on leaks and Internal Affairs probes a union head’s often antagonistic online rhetoric, The Post has learned.

The new policy, which was issued on Feb. 12, tells officers not to post any information on cases they get from the job that hasn’t been made public — such as photos or videos from crime scenes.

In December, the NYPD subpoenaed the Twitter data from Post Police Bureau Chief Tina Moore’s account as part of its internal investigation into a crime scene photo Moore posted back in October 2019.

The news of the legal action came a week after the NYPD changed another patrol guide policy to crack down on photos and videos being shared with the press — which led to the suspension of a pair of cops who accessed and shared videos from the dramatic shooting inside a Bronx police station on Feb. 9.

The policy, Procedure No. 203-32, also appears to give the department some added leeway to go after union presidents if they choose.

The heads of the NYPD’s union have historically been given a bit more rope to speak out in the media to push their policy agenda — but one leader’s recent declaration of war on Mayor Bill de Blasio got the attention of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

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Ed Mullins, the Sergeants Benevolent Association’s president and a fierce adversary of the mayor, is facing an internal probe over whether his tweets or other bombastic statements violated department policy.

The recent order says officers should not engage in any “manipulating of discourteous or disrespectful remarks, in any form, regarding another person’s ethnicity, race, religion, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, and/or disability.”

“Members of the service are reminded that they are strictly accountable for their conduct at all times, inside or outside of New York City, whether on or off duty, including the use of personal social media account,” the policy adds.

It was unclear if the department would use this to rein in the rhetoric of NYPD’s union reps, who appear to still be in the honeymoon phase with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.

His predecessor, James O’Neill, wasn’t as lucky.

O’Neill was often the target of harsh criticism from the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, and the SBA.

Obvious restrictions, including not to contact witnesses, suspects, attorneys or minors they’ve interacted with as a cop, were also laid out for the members.

Additionally, cops cannot use anything in their handles that would identify their job or detail, such as “@nypd_johndoe, @53pct_janedeo” and prohibits cops from posting any photos, with prior approval, of themselves or others on the force in uniform or with their ID, patches or badges, the document reads.

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Return of squeegee men a sign of the decline of de Blasio’s New York What goes around, comes around — including that venerable symbol of pre-Giuliani municipal disorder, the squeegee man.

So what’s next, trashed autos in West Side Highway pull-off alcoves, no wheels, sitting on cinder blocks and waiting endlessly for a city tow truck?

Hey, why not?

When French tourists can be slashed randomly in Harlem, when double-digit index crime increases are the new normal, and with subway cars serving as rolling homeless shelters, Midtown sidewalk traffic impeded by peddlers’ blankets and public spaces everywhere crammed with aggressive panhandlers, why wouldn’t there be squeegee men in busy intersections — like there were over the past weekend, around the approaches to the Lincoln Tunnel.

Though it’s not just over the weekend, it seems: Neighborhood folks say they’ve been there for some time.

Again, why not? Disorder unresisted is disorder triumphant — or soon to become so. And Bill de Blasio — ideologically blinkered and epically lazy — has shown no appetite whatsoever for pushing back.

Squeegee men essentially are extortionists: They shmush dirty water on your windshield, sort of wipe it off, hold out a hand for a “tip” and are as likely as not to key your car if you don’t cough it up.

It’s an easy field to enter: All one needs is a dirty rag, a squirt bottle of water, a cheap squeegee — and, critically, the tacit acquiescence of the police.

When all that is forthcoming — as it was in the ’80s and early ’90s — the result is a socially debilitating sense of municipal chaos, followed by rising crime of a more serious nature.

Sounds sort of like de Blasioville, 2020.

Case in point: John Jay College is reporting a massive drop in quality-of-life law enforcement since 2017, with high double-digit declines in tickets and arrests for public urination, open-container violations and so on.

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Combine that with the de facto decriminalization of both turnstile-jumping and the public use of marijuana — where can one go in Midtown and not smell it? — and why be surprised that some people take it all as permission to flout the law, if not an open invitation?

Then blend in Albany’s misbegotten criminal justice “reforms” and the sharp increase in serious crime noted since New Year’s Day seems almost to have been inevitable.

Indeed, taken against the 27 percent increase in shootings so far this year and the 35 percent hike in robberies, the return of the squeegee men might seem like small beer.

But it’s not. Symbols matter.

Back in the Dinkins era, the ever-present squeegee men broadcast a message: Gotham, a great global city, had all but given up on itself.

And those who took a second look saw the abandoned cars, the cracked-out vagrants arrayed across public spaces and a legion of highly aggressive beggars — a confirmation of surrender.

New York’s not quite there yet — thank God for the dramatic decline of crack — but it’s not hard to see the trend lines. That is, the fissures in the facade that signal real crises.

The sad fact is that New Yorkers have elected a political class lacking the fundamental self-respect, and the courage, to stand up to the nihilists now dragging the city down. And, indeed, some of them are nihilists themselves.

Political squeegee men and women, even.

They put up with it, but there’s no reason for hardworking New Yorkers to. Not with any of it.

Parkland non-profit teaches educators, cops how to spot potential online threats CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - Threats posted on social media against schools are becoming more and more common, and police officers and school officials are being trained to spot the trouble in the hopes of preventing another tragedy.

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Non-profit organization Stand with Parkland gathered Thursday to teach educators and law enforcement how to spot the online threats.

“[It’s] not to incarcerate anybody. It’s not to profile anybody. It’s to identify those that need help and then get them the help they need,” said Tony Montalto, who lost his daughter, Gina Montalto, in the Parkland shooting.

Confessed Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is an extreme example of a person posting such threats online.

“He had made it very clear that he intended to shoot up a school,” said Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter, Alaina Petty, in the Parkland shooting.

Montalto, Petty and Max Schachter, who lost his son, Alex Schachter in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, added that what students choose to share online can often be a cry for help.

“These are clues that give us a picture into what is going on in the life of that student, so that the right resources can be brought to bear, parents can be made aware,” Petty said.

A workshop at Coral Springs Police’s headquarters was set up to help adults who often do not know the ins and outs of all the different social media networks.

“I cannot stress how much it’s important to really get yourselves familiar with this,” Safer Schools Together founder Theresa Campbell said during the workshop.

Experts said that children are a huge component in spotting threats. They also encourage students that if they see a concerning post or message, they should say something, so that child can get help.

“It is our job, it is school officials’ jobs to really investigate this, to evaluate the threat, the level of the threat and to get the kid the services and the help that they need,” Schachter said. “I was just a dad before this, and I had four children. I only have three now, and in all of us, Stand with Parkland, all the 17 families are just trying to do everything we can to prevent this from happening to other communities around this country.”

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2020 Medicare Premiums Announced Click above link for the FULL article. A brief portion of the article is below:

On November 8, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2020 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs. Medicare Part B Premiums/Deductibles Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment, and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A. Each year the Medicare premiums, deductibles, and copayment rates are adjusted according to the Social Security Act. For 2020, the Medicare Part B monthly premiums and the annual deductible are higher than the 2019 amounts. The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $144.60 for 2020, an increase of $9.10 from $135.50 in 2019. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $198 in 2020, an increase of $13 from the annual deductible of $185 in 2019. The increase in the Part B premiums and deductible is largely due to rising spending on physician-administered drugs. These higher costs have a ripple effect and result in higher Part B premiums and deductible. From day one, President Trump has made it a top priority to lower drug prices. Currently, for Part B, the law requires CMS to pay the average sales price for a drug and also pays physicians a percentage of a drug's sale price. This incentivizes drug companies to set prices higher and for physicians to prescribe more expensive drugs – because that leads to a higher Medicare payment. Through the President’s drug pricing blueprint, the Trump Administration is working to lower drug prices in Medicare Part B drugs. CMS is committed to empowering beneficiaries with the information they need to make informed decisions about their Medicare coverage options, including providing new tools to help them make those decisions through the eMedicare initiative. In addition to the recently released premiums and cost sharing information for 2020 Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, we are releasing the premiums and cost sharing information for Fee-for-Service Medicare, so beneficiaries understand their options for receiving Medicare benefits. As previously announced, as a result of CMS actions to drive competition, on average for 2020, Medicare Advantage premiums are expected to decline by 23 percent from 2018, and will be the lowest in the last thirteen years while plan choices, benefits and enrollment continue to increase.

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Premiums and deductibles for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plans are already finalized and are unaffected by this announcement. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE CITY OF NEW YOUR OLR FOR MORE INFO ON MEDICARE The City of New York OLR will send out information and transfer forms prior to the transfer period! City Coverage for Medicare-Eligible Retirees This entire article can also be found on the NYC, Office of Labor Relations website. A link to the webpage is provided below: CLICK HERE NYC OFFICE OF LABOR RELATIONS HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIREES In order to maintain maximum health benefits, it is essential that you join Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) at your local Social Security Office as soon as you are eligible. If you do not join Medicare, you will lose whatever benefits Medicare would have provided.

The City’s Health Benefits Program supplements Medicare but does not duplicate benefits available under Medicare. Medicare-eligible members must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B in order to be covered by a Medicare HMO plan. To enroll in Medicare and assure continuity of benefits upon becoming age 65, contact your Social Security Office during the three-month period before your 65th birthday. In order not to lose benefits, you must enroll in Medicare during this period even if you will not be receiving a Social Security check.

If you are over 65 or eligible for Medicare due to disability and did not join Medicare, contact your Social Security Office to find out when you may join. If you do not join Medicare Part B when you first become eligible, there is a 10% premium penalty for each year you were eligible but did not enroll. In addition, under certain circumstances there may be up to a 15-month delay before your Medicare Part B coverage can begin upon re-enrollment.

If you or your spouse are ineligible for Medicare Part A although over age 65 (reasons for ineligibility include non-citizenship or non-eligibility for Social Security benefits for Part A), contact us at:

NYC Health Benefits Program 40 Rector Street - 3rd Floor New York, NY 10006

Coverage for those not eligible for Medicare Part A can be provided under certain health plans. Under this Non-Medicare eligible coverage, you continue to receive the same hospital benefits as persons not yet age 65.

If you are living outside the USA or its territories, Medicare benefits are not available. Under this Non-Medicare eligible coverage, you continue to receive the same hospital and/or medical benefits as persons not yet age 65. If you do not join and/or do not continue to pay for Medicare Part B however, you will be subject to penalties if you return to the USA and attempt to enroll.

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If you are eligible for Medicare Part B as a retiree but did not file with Social Security during their enrollment period (January through March) or prior to your 65th birthday, you will receive supplemental medical coverage only, and only through GHI/EBCBS Senior Care.

Medicare Enrollment

You must notify the Health Benefits Program in writing immediately upon receipt of your or your dependent’s Medicare card. Include the following information: a copy of the Medicare card and birth dates for yourself and spouse, retirement date, pension number and pension system, name of health plan, and name of union welfare fund.

If your plan does not provide coverage for Medicare enrollees, you will have the opportunity to transfer to another plan that does.

Once the Health Benefits Program is notified that you are covered by Medicare, deductions from your pension check will be adjusted, if applicable. The Health Benefits Program will then notify your health plan that you are enrolled in Medicare so that your benefits can be adjusted. If you are Medicare-eligible and are enrolling in an HMO you must complete an additional application which you must obtain directly from the HMO.

Medicare and Retiring Employees At retirement, employees who have chosen Medicare as their primary plan or whose dependents have not been covered on their plan because their spouse/domestic partner elected Medicare as the primary plan may re-enroll in the City health benefits program. This is done by completing a Health Benefits Application and submitting it to their agency health benefits, payroll or personnel office. Also at retirement, Medicare-eligible employees for whom the City Health Benefits Program had provided primary coverage are permitted to change health plans effective on the same date as their retiree health coverage The necessary forms for Medicare Part B reimbursement and IRMAA can be found by clicking the link below. City of NY-Health Benefits Program – Medicare Part B

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NYPD-Retired (LT.) Member: Broward 10-13 & FOP-3100

[email protected] Website: WWW.WSINSURANCEGROUP.COM

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SAYS

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PERRY GIORDANELLI, BC-HIS, A.C.A. Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences

American Conference of Audioprosthology

Alan Weiss Hearing Aids Colony Springs Building 8333 West McNab Road

Suite 128 – Tamarac, Fl 33321 Tel# 954-748-1508 – Fax 954-720-5153

www.alanweisshearingaids.com

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NEIL A. SCHULTZ, M.D., F.A.C.S. P.A.

DIPLOMAT, AMERICAN BOARD OF INTERNAL MEDICINE CARDIOLOGY AND INTERNAL MEDICINE

G.H.I. PARTICIPANT

Family Health Center (954) 973-4555 2825 N. State Road 7, suite 200 Margate, Florida, 33063 Fax (954) 970-7908 Hours by Appointment

Daughter of a 10-13 Member

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an organization of retired new york city police officers

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