Amid Legal Disputes, Anthem’s NYC Contract Faces Second Delay

Anthem, Inc.’s pending contract to serve retired New York City workers and their dependents — which would have nearly doubled the insurer’s Medicare Advantage Employer Group Waiver Plan (EGWP) enrollment — is in peril. Just days before its planned start, the city’s comptroller refused to register the proposed contract and turned it back to Mayor Eric Adams (D) for a revised cost estimate, putting the already delayed transition to a retiree MA plan on hold. 

“Due to the legal and budgetary uncertainties that remain while litigation over the City’s contract with Anthem Insurance Companies continues, the Comptroller’s office does not have sufficient information to register the proposed Medicare Advantage Plan contract at this time,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander explained in a March 30 statement posted to the comptroller’s website. Subsequently, the city’s Office of Labor Relations posted that the transition to the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus Plan would not be implemented as of April 1 as planned and that all retirees “will remain in their current plans until further notice.”