To: President Donald Trump, The California State House, and The United States House of Representatives
Blue Shield's "Bait and Switch" and Age Discrimination Practices: Billing Seniors with Multiple P...
Stop Blue Shield's "bait and switch" and age-discrimination practices aimed at seniors. Blue Shield discriminatively raised their Medi Gap premium multiple times within one calendar year.
Why is this important?
I have been blind-sided twice this year with premium increases from my Blue Shield of California Medi Gap plan. Never before has this happened to me in my many years of being insured. When selecting a Medi Gap, or any insurance plan, your premium price plays a pivotal role. Also, when you are presented with a 2014 premium, you have a reasonable expectation that it means all of 2014 (12 months, to be exact). Blue Shield's bait and switch and discriminatory practices should be illegal and should not be allowed.
My first increase was in March, and I was told that it was due to me turning an odd-number age in February. My second increase came in August, for which I was told was an across-the-board increase for their Medi Gap plan, affecting mostly seniors.
In my complaint to Blue Shield, I referenced a document on the Blue Shield web site that states that premium increases based on age go into effect the January of the year following the odd-year birthday. I was told that this document was for their regular plans and not their Medi Gap, their senior plan. Blue Shield justified this practice by saying that Medicare had approved and signed off on this age-discriminatory practice. It cannot be okay for Blue Shield to raise premiums for seniors at will, nor is it okay for Medicare to approve such a plan.
For Blue Shield to advertise their premium as 2014 premium is false advertisement and fraudulent. It is not a 2014 premium plan; it's a month-to-month plan that is subject to change at any time, and should be advertised as such. Corporations don't accept this deception from Blue Shield in regard to their employees and neither should Medicare.
Bait and switch practices are illegal, false advertisement is illegal, fraud is illegal and age discrimination is illegal. Therefore, these practices by Blue Shield are illegal and unacceptable. If you are a senior, care about a senior, or hope to be a senior someday, you need to sign this petition and put an end to Blue Shield's unscrupulous practices! If we don't stop Blue Shield, your insurance company could be next.
This petition is not about high premiums, it is about unfair and, in most cases, illegal practices.
My first increase was in March, and I was told that it was due to me turning an odd-number age in February. My second increase came in August, for which I was told was an across-the-board increase for their Medi Gap plan, affecting mostly seniors.
In my complaint to Blue Shield, I referenced a document on the Blue Shield web site that states that premium increases based on age go into effect the January of the year following the odd-year birthday. I was told that this document was for their regular plans and not their Medi Gap, their senior plan. Blue Shield justified this practice by saying that Medicare had approved and signed off on this age-discriminatory practice. It cannot be okay for Blue Shield to raise premiums for seniors at will, nor is it okay for Medicare to approve such a plan.
For Blue Shield to advertise their premium as 2014 premium is false advertisement and fraudulent. It is not a 2014 premium plan; it's a month-to-month plan that is subject to change at any time, and should be advertised as such. Corporations don't accept this deception from Blue Shield in regard to their employees and neither should Medicare.
Bait and switch practices are illegal, false advertisement is illegal, fraud is illegal and age discrimination is illegal. Therefore, these practices by Blue Shield are illegal and unacceptable. If you are a senior, care about a senior, or hope to be a senior someday, you need to sign this petition and put an end to Blue Shield's unscrupulous practices! If we don't stop Blue Shield, your insurance company could be next.
This petition is not about high premiums, it is about unfair and, in most cases, illegal practices.