ZocDoc.com banned patients with federally funded insurance plans from using its website to book appointments with doctors to seek health care.  This includes Medicare, Medicaid, and now Tricare for our veterans. Patients in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington, New York, and New Jersey are impacted.  

ZocDoc's distasteful move is a violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 involving public accommodations for people with disabilities.  While federal and state public accommodation statutes do not have protected classes for the elderly and children or the indigent, federal law regarding discrimination against people with disabilities is very clear -- it is illegal! The criteria for Medicare eligibility is being aged 65 and older (85% of Medicare beneficiaries) or having a disability, and about 15% of Medicare beneficiaries qualify with a long term disability.  Additionally Medicaid plans include Child Health Plans for children under aged 19 and younger, so ZocDoc's policy discriminates against children too, and the New York City Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability AND age as well.  Additionally ZocDoc now bans our military veterans with Tricare from using its website as well.  There is no low that ZocDoc won't go.

People with disabilities, the elderly, children, the indigent, and our veterans returning from combat duty are perhaps the most vulnerable populations who would need access to health care.  Yet ZocDoc has decided to ban New Yorkers with Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare health insurance plans from using its website, because by federal law since they're not a Doctor, ZocDoc can't make money by charging medical practices referral fees or receive any portion of government funds designated for health care.

ZocDoc used to be a beacon of access to health care with its website by centralizing appointment availability in doctors' offices so patients can get last minute appointments for urgent care.  It used to have a flat fee subscription model that allowed patients with federally funded insurance plans to use the website without violating federal anti-kickback laws.  But since it plans to go public and offer an IPO, it lost sight of its once altruistic vision and is now trying to inflate its profit margins by bilking medical practices with per-appointment booking fees -- except by federal law it is prohibited from doing that for patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare health insurance plans.  Thus ZocDoc is just going to go nuclear and will just ban patients with federally funded insurance from using its website.  

Shame on ZocDoc.  

Send ZocDoc a message that what it is doing is just distasteful, if not downright illegal.  Boycott using ZocDoc to book appointments.  Book direct with a doctor's website and cut out ZocDoc as the middleman.

Please sign the petition and add to our voice.  

Don't let ZocDoc get away with violating civil rights!

If you are impacted by ZocDoc's ban, please fill out the following forms:

Disability Rights New York:
https://www.drny.org/page/contact-us-4.html

NYC Human Rights Commission:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/about/report-discrimination.page

Civil Rights Bureau of New York State Attorney General's Office: https://ag.ny.gov/bureau/civil-rights

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division: https://www.ada.gov/complaint/

Remember, All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men (and women) to do nothing.