End Discriminatory Health Insurance Practices

Dear Senator [Name],


Each day more and more older Americans are being priced out of affordable health insurance, often due to a discriminatory practice called age rating, which insurance companies use to charge Americans over 50 as much as five times or more than a younger person -- based solely on their age, not their health. The practice of age rating is swelling the ranks of the uninsured among older Americans. Because people develop health problems as they age, and because people with insurance tend to be healthier, failing to provide affordable health care for older Americans will simply mean they'll get sicker and their care will cost more once they become eligible for Medicare.

That's why I want you to support legislation that prevents insurance companies from charging older Americans unaffordable rates for health coverage. Preventing age rating, as well as prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to those with a health condition, would allow Americans age 50 to 64 who can't find affordable health insurance today to buy the coverage they need. Preventing age rating is a critical part of making insurance affordable to people in this age group.

[Your comment here]

I urge you to provide older Americans with a choice of health care plans they can afford. Unless we provide this age group with access to affordable health insurance, the ranks of the uninsured will keep going up, their costs will continue to skyrocket, and older Americans will not be able to get the care they need.