Blue Cross sent me a postage-prepaid postcard to send to my Senator opposing a Public Option (PICS)

So I'm using Blue Cross's postage to send MY message. Thanks Blue Cross for the postage. (If you get one, please consider doing the same.)

I will do the same.

MediCare supplemental.
Went with Mutual of Omaha.
Screw UHC.

Years ago a local publisher stiffed a bunch of writers on payments. Turned out he was a professional con man, constantly starting new publications and not paying writers. He didn't own a thing, leased all his office supplies even so there was no way to collect a judgment.

One writer, however, got revenge. Since he also did photographer, he had been given the publisher's Federal Express account number. So he mailed the publisher a box of bricks, carefully weighed to equal the amount he was owed, and enclosed a note that said "Now you know what it feels like to get ripped off for $365!"

The PO will not deliver it and the permit holder won't be charged for it. All you're doing is placing an extra burden on the PO employees. Not only that, you could be charged with abuse of the mails.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/566/can-i-mail...

We need the public option .

You don't think they raise premiums in order to keep up with costs, do you? That is just a side issue. Profit is motive #1.

they need to know how you feel and what you think of their outreach (and that you're Senator now knows how you feel too).

Sheer brilliance!

save a bit of change at the same time!

Why am I not surprised?

and I've never been sick a day in my life (except a cold or flu, never in the hospital a day except when I was born). Extortion is what it is. Screw them.

but i doubt their executives are.

just an FYI...

(which is of course, BS) but it is a non-profit.

Since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, organizations administering Blue Cross Blue Shield plans lost their full tax-exempt status. They became 501(m) organizations, subject to federal taxation but entitled to "special tax benefits."<6>. Some plans are still considered not-for-profit at the state level.

So at the state level some are... but their owners are still king.

which is nice as it subjects it to overview by the Attorney General's office.

KnR

I wonder if Hagan's office is aware of this letter and would just stack yours in an opened pile of them to take a count?

Perhaps writing something across the bottom front like "I support gov't health care".

Just a thought.

thanks

Especially the edges so it is clear there is something wrong with the stack
Red tint to represent http://namesofthedead.com / ?

thinking it is another piece of mail opposing.

no envelope

why bother opening it when they "know" what's inside.

and back.

nt

as does attitude. And with that, I'll bid you good day.

Is that even legal?

This looks like Countdown material to me.

of those that will investigate them doing this in the first place.

Which looks like code for "the cost of buying Congress".

Heaven help these people if we ever get it together to withhold donations and taxes. They'd have to go back to working for us.

Once they get just a few of these form letters, the Senate office staff will recognize it by envelope and put it in a pile labeled "Blue Cross." They'll look at it because they want to see if you put in a readable name and address for their database, but as the process will be semi-industrial there's no guarantee the staff will notice that you edited the letter. At the end of the process they'll tell the Senator how many they got of the various types of letters.

according the message.

That will make the message abundantly clear.

This is BRM (business reply mail). See the postmark? BCBS has agreed to pay the postage. They assume it will cost them the price of a first-class stamp. However, they still have to pay it in the end.

So, everyone who gets these should tape the reply envelope to something heavy and worthless. A brick is perfect, but a good-sized rock will do in a pinch. If everyone did this, those little reply envelopes would cost BCBS thousands of dollars, or more, in the end. The USPS will still sort it and send it (and charge them for the weight of the mailing!), and we will get to send a strong message.

Every dollar BCBS spent on these could have been spent on a patient, but they don't want to spend money on the patients they insure. Since they're so keen on spending money in places where they shouldn't be spending money, I think we all should take it upon themselves to force them into paying through the nose for this.

I don't know if it will work, but I love it!

According to rule 917.243(b) in the Domestic Mail Manual, when a business reply card is "improperly used as a label"--e.g., when it's affixed to a brick--the item so labeled may be treated as "waste." That means the post office can heave it into the trash without further ado.

If you take the time to read through and look at the pix, it's 1. not a letter but a postcard and 2.clearly makred on front and back in big red letters I SUPPORT PUBLIC OPTION.

OP is brilliantly letting BCBS spend their money pushing OP's point.

GREAT JOB!!!!!

& if people consistently did the same thing, it would be more obvious. So this thread is an example of why Internet discussion boards can generate effective action.

Brilliant.

Someone should make an ad based on this. As health insurance CEOs' compensation scrolls across the screen: "Blue Cross fears real competition in the marketplace. Why don't they want you to have a real choice in healthcare options? They and the other insurance corporations want to keep premiums high and be the ones to decide what healthcare you can have. Tell Congress you want real consumer choice and real competition. Support the public health care option and tell those insurance executives that you don't want to pay for their multimillion dollar lifestyles anymore."

You should send it to one of the pro-reform NP's.

propaganda AND pay for the postage to send it to your representative. No conflict of interest there! Do they also prepay the postage on the envelopes they send with your bills? I'm sure not, and I'm sure they justify that as a cost-savings to you, their loyal insured person.

Good on you for editing the letter and sharing it with us!

use their own pre-paid shit against them. bravo. k&r.

Bill Moyers. Also send them to your local newspaper. Shame these criminals who prey on the sick.

Sen Hagan gets it as emended! BCBS/NC are some sunsabitches, with whom I've got several bones to pick. This little bit of chutzpah on their part will be well-paid.

And neighbor.

coloring the edges

But I sure the hell do!

BTW- my wife did this last week. Have you been seeing my wife behind my back, Lex?

night--but you were there!

or something to that effect.

The private sector is not inherently bad. It's bad when big profits are associated with systematic failure to make sick Americans whole again.

Up to you of course.

Is that even legal?
shouldn't you send them a bill for lobbying?

unbelievable

THEY pay the postage, regardless, and we at the USPS charge by weight, even for BRM cards.

I'm not suggesting this to help the USPS make money (full disclosure- I'm a USPS employee), I'm suggesting this to cost BCBS money. If they want to spend it on this rather than on their insured customers, then we should take it upon ourselves to make them pay and pay and pay. They handed everyone who got these a blank check. It's up to us to write in a few zeroes.

I thought that was an urban legend or something.
If true, so good to know.



edit for typo.

In order to meat the standards for that type of prepaid postage, it has to be machine readable. If it doesn't go through the machine, it doesn't go to the destination.

The BCBS executives, or the people covered by their insurance?

Specifically, is it legal for BC/BS to sue their business postal permit to have mail sent to a Senator?

And if the Senator uses that mail for any political activity, is that not tax payer funded ( indirectly)???

or BC? Because that would be poetic justice if it would cost BC extra to insure the brick.

You might also post a letter to newspaper editors urging them to let their readers know about the brick trick.

This won't work and you could get in trouble. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I did the same with Republican propaganda sent to me during the campaign, especially the grossest distortions (the whole Ayers thing, the 'promoting sex education for kindergartners' thing, etc. against President Obama.) I didn't have free postage (good on you!) but sent the stuff back to the state Republican party who was mailing it out, similarly marked up as you have done.

PS~ I often do this if there is an enormous amount of magazine subscription cardsfluttering out of magazines. I don't mind attached cards, and I don't mind a couple of these loose ones, but when it gets excessive, I just mail them postage paid back to them. It could be my imagination, but I do think fewer and fewer of these cards are in magazines these days...

i certainly hope Sen Hagan gets a shitload just like it.

Thanks for the pics and the great idea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yuna-shin/bluecross-blues...

I posted a link to this page. It is in moderation

I hope lots more folks will edit their card and send it in.

nice way to change the message!!

Bravo!

Under the "Business Reply Mail" box it says "Postage Will be Paid by Addressee".

I thought that the "addressee" was the person or entity that the letter is addressed to.

Merriam Webster seems to confirm this.

So is Senator Hagan's office paying to receive these?

and if so, was this done in cooperation with her office?

I'm passing this on to someone with a huge democratic mailing list for the whole state.

YES

Love that Blue Cross is picking up the tab for your message!

Sonia

Expect a cease and desist letter from the powerful Sharpie lobby.

about that

How many uninformed individuals will simply sign it and mail it because Blue Cross told them to?

I LOVE your edits and additions!

This should be on Kos too.

nt

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/26/797142/-Bl... ...

I gave a shout-out to you, Lex.

BC/BS in wisconsin I move to Iowa and Wellmark is BC/BS, but they used the name change to sock it to me for pre existing in 2001. We've needed a health overhall for a loooooong time

I have one exactly like that laying around in my bedroom. I'll make the same changes you did and send it in : )

Kudos to you!!

I will definitely do the same, I hope I get one

You punked 'em good!

This is a much better way to use it.

Using their own strategy against them.

Check the address. Its probably going to BCBS (and then they'd relay it). So, you're not likely to have the effect of sticking it to them; the card will just go into the trash. But you might want to write a letter toe the editor of a local newspaper about this.

so screw 'em

http://hagan.senate.gov/?p=contact

Being not from North Carolina (and expecting insurance company shenanigans), I would have my doubts of the validity of the address. The use of the business reply mail permit is still suspect.

* Contact Senator Hagan
* Toll Free: 1-877-852-9462

Office Locations

*
WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
521 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6342
Fax: 202-228-2563
*
GREENSBORO OFFICE – STATE HEADQUARTERS
701 Green Valley Rd; Suite 201
Greensboro, NC 27408
Phone: 336-333-5311
Fax: 336-333-5331
*
RALEIGH OFFICE
310 New Bern Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-856-4630
Fax: 919-856-4053

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

If you go here: http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/5415
and click on the "contact" tab, you'll see that that is the address of her Greensboro office.

Thanks for posting this. We live in NC, too. Haven't received this (yet) and if we do, we will do as you did. It shows how far they are willing to promote their "interests". To add salt to the injury, they are using OUR money to do this! And this is from a "non-profit" organization....heh heh!

If a Congresscritter's office is swamped with these, they may flip them into a pile without even noticing anything you've written on them and think it's against the public option.

I would instead write a genuine letter. That gets opened and attention, since it obviously took a lot more time than postcard games.

She's a Democrat. I sure hope that helps.

Good job, Lex!

Its open enrollment time at work, and I'm putting my kids on my work plan. I plan to give them an EARFUL when I call to cancel.

I read that some state BCBS's are for-profit, others not-for-profit (and North Carolina BC is obviously BS). If a nonprofit company did this, I'd want their non-profit status revoked and every payment to them regulated as a political contribution.

This is war.

I said in my original response to this thread that I was thrilled with the idea, and would pass it on to a friend who has a very large email contact list for Democrats in the whole state of NC.

He passed it on.

And then he wrote, and I quote with his permission:


That is why I recommend a different strategy, one which takes no more time:

If you would like to acquaint Sen. Hagan with your views, please follow this link to her Senate website:

http://hagan.senate.gov/?p=contact

You enter your contact data, demonstrating that you are her constituent, and at the bottom, select "Health" as your topic, type "public option" as your Subject, and then write your 2 or 3 sentences in the message box. Threats won't help, but a firm statement about your expectations of Sen. Hagan on this matter can't hurt.

Plus I'm calling her office tomorrow as well to make sure her staff knows to LOOK at these post cards and be sure of the message--some will surely be edited like mine, perhaps A LOT will be.

I have Blue Cross, too. I will do what you did if I get one of these cards.

But this makes me so angry. I'm grateful to have insurance through my employer, but I would trade it for a strong public option if it means that everyone would be covered.

Disgusting.

Whether it's to a utility company, a friend or relative or any business....I write it on the front and back of the envelope as it travels across this country for all to see.

If so, could you possibly post it up here?

I'd like to spread the word about what these fuckers are up to (the company letterhead is downright sickening, talk about hubris!).

Appreciate that you posted it. People need to know what these fuckers are up to!

It's a postcard.

Plenty of competition already and yet prices only go up -- if competition is there, prices should be going down. Funny how it isn't...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_insu...