Demand the NYPD DEA Reject MetLife Dental Cuts and Restore Earned Benefits!
Demand the NYPD DEA Reject MetLife Dental Cuts and Restore Earned Benefits!
The Issue
To: The Board of Officers and Trustees of the Health Benefit Fund, Detectives' Endowment Association (DEA)
As active and retired NYPD Detectives, we have earned our health benefits through decades of dedicated service, sacrifice, and risk. We refuse to sit by while our healthcare standards are systematically dismantled.
The union's decision to transition our dental insurance carrier from Cigna Dental to MetLife represents a catastrophic reduction in baseline benefits. Look at exactly what we are losing compared to our legacy Cigna Retiree Plan:
The Premium Penalty: We are going from a fully union-funded $0 premium plan under Cigna to being forced to pay a $1,000 out-of-pocket fee just to buy up to a functional coverage tier under MetLife.
The Benefit Cap Crash: Cigna provided no annual maximum limits on most essential services. MetLife's free Core Plan crashes that limit down to a useless $500 per year—which won't even cover a single routine crown or root canal.
The End of Zero-Copays: Cigna covered basic and major care at 100% with $0 copays. MetLife introduces a mandatory 20% copay on basic care and strips major care (crowns, bridges, dentures) down to 0% coverage on the Core Plan. Even if you pay the $1,000 buy-up, major care is cut to a 50% copay.
Hidden Deductibles: MetLife introduces a brand-new $50 individual / $150 family annual deductible on the Buy-Up plan that we never had to pay under Cigna.
Extreme Fine-Print Restrictions: MetLife limits full-mouth X-rays to once every 5 years, fillings to once every 2 years per tooth, and completely eliminates orthodontic coverage for adults.
Furthermore, our retired members who have relocated out of New York are being left stranded by massive regional network gaps through MetLife's administrator, Bluestone Planning Inc., leaving them unable to find high-quality local dentists.
Our Demand: We call on the DEA Board of Officers to immediately re-evaluate the MetLife agreement. Eliminate the $1,000 premium requirement, remove the copay and deductible penalties, and restore the non-restrictive, zero-copay standards of care our membership earned.
Do not let them chip away at what we earned. Sign the petition today!
2,819
The Issue
To: The Board of Officers and Trustees of the Health Benefit Fund, Detectives' Endowment Association (DEA)
As active and retired NYPD Detectives, we have earned our health benefits through decades of dedicated service, sacrifice, and risk. We refuse to sit by while our healthcare standards are systematically dismantled.
The union's decision to transition our dental insurance carrier from Cigna Dental to MetLife represents a catastrophic reduction in baseline benefits. Look at exactly what we are losing compared to our legacy Cigna Retiree Plan:
The Premium Penalty: We are going from a fully union-funded $0 premium plan under Cigna to being forced to pay a $1,000 out-of-pocket fee just to buy up to a functional coverage tier under MetLife.
The Benefit Cap Crash: Cigna provided no annual maximum limits on most essential services. MetLife's free Core Plan crashes that limit down to a useless $500 per year—which won't even cover a single routine crown or root canal.
The End of Zero-Copays: Cigna covered basic and major care at 100% with $0 copays. MetLife introduces a mandatory 20% copay on basic care and strips major care (crowns, bridges, dentures) down to 0% coverage on the Core Plan. Even if you pay the $1,000 buy-up, major care is cut to a 50% copay.
Hidden Deductibles: MetLife introduces a brand-new $50 individual / $150 family annual deductible on the Buy-Up plan that we never had to pay under Cigna.
Extreme Fine-Print Restrictions: MetLife limits full-mouth X-rays to once every 5 years, fillings to once every 2 years per tooth, and completely eliminates orthodontic coverage for adults.
Furthermore, our retired members who have relocated out of New York are being left stranded by massive regional network gaps through MetLife's administrator, Bluestone Planning Inc., leaving them unable to find high-quality local dentists.
Our Demand: We call on the DEA Board of Officers to immediately re-evaluate the MetLife agreement. Eliminate the $1,000 premium requirement, remove the copay and deductible penalties, and restore the non-restrictive, zero-copay standards of care our membership earned.
Do not let them chip away at what we earned. Sign the petition today!
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Petition created on August 25, 2026