Keep Health Insurance Accessible for Americans Aged 50 and Higher - The Petition Site

Keep Health Insurance Accessible for Americans Aged 50 and Higher - The Petition Site

With our current system, insurance companies can charge more as patients get older. And while a slight increase makes sense to cover costs, these increases can be as much as ten times the amount charged for younger patients. Not only that, but if an older adult has a preexisting medical condition, some insurance companies can reject them altogether.

An AARP study found that 7.1 million people ages 50 to 64 are uninsured, a 36 percent increase since 2000. This is an unacceptable number, especially when this generation is in the most need of medical help.

The health care reform bill being debated in Congress has the ability to fix this problem. Under the House bill, insurers would be able to charge older people no more than twice as much as they charge younger customers. The Senate proposals set a higher limit of three to one. But both the House and Senate plans would prevent insurers from denying coverage for preexisting conditions and from charging higher premiums based on health or gender.

We cannot burden older Americans with the worst insurance premiums. Please tell Congress to maintain this limited age ratio of at least three to one, so we can all have access to affordable insurance and properly take care of our elders.