American Morning
Lobbying for Your Health: 150,000 seniors in revolt
Editor's Note: Lobbyists have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to influence the health care debate in this country. By some counts, there were six health care lobbyists for every member of Congress. In part three of the American Morning original series, "Lobbying for Your Health," Carol Costello looks at the AARP's contentious role in the debate.
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello
November 5, 2009. That's the day the AARP endorsed the House health care bill. With nearly 40 million members, it's not surprising that the president quickly came before cameras in the White House to thank the AARP for its endorsement.
That AARP endorsement wasn't universally applauded by all of the organization's millions of members. The organization admits it has lost 150,000 members since the endorsement but says that's been offset by more than 2-million new or renewed memberships.
Some, like Robert Tice, feel the AARP is out of touch with its members by focusing so much on selling insurance. He says he will let his AARP membership lapse without renewal because he doesn't like what they're up to.
"The letters don't mean American Association of Retired Persons," he told CNN's Carol Costello. "It just means AARP. It's just a name. ... The AARP is about insurance. People need to know that. AARP is not out there to help you."
In fact, the AARP brands several types of insurance, including health policies with United Healthcare. By endorsing so many insurance policies the organization brought in around $650 million dollars last year in premiums. That's almost three times what it took in from membership dues.
Republicans say the AARP's endorsement of the House health bill is more about supporting its insurance business than anything else. They point to the organization's acquiescence to billions of dollars in cuts to the Medicare Advantage Plans, which AARP and other insurers offer as private alternatives to Medicare that often includes extra medical coverage like dental and vision care.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, some suggested cuts in the program might make it so unattractive that millions of Americans could be forced out because the plan's benefits would shrink. It is also possible that some insurance companies would stop offering Medicare Advantage policies altogether because it would be far less profitable.
So, why would the AARP support cuts to Medicare Advantage? Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) thinks he knows what the AARP is up to. Gingrey says the organization hopes that millions of seniors will move from Medicare Advantage to AARP's branded Medigap plan, which has far higher profit margins.
"The fewer people, seniors, that are on Medicare Advantage and back into Medicare fee for service (Medigap)," Gingrey says, "the more opportunity AARP has to get royalty from the sale of Medigap policies." The AARP, says Gingrey, is the market leader in selling Medigap policies.
Carol Costello asked the AARP if any of this is true. The AARP's director of legislative policy, David Certner, says "it's not an issue we have lobbied on at all."
Certner says his organization supported cuts to Medicare Advantage to "trim the fat" so Medicare itself survives. "We understand there are financial issues with Medicare, and we need to save money for the Medicare program."
He adds that the AARP has fought to make sure the health care bill closes the gap in Medicare drug coverage, known as the "donut hole," an important issue for many seniors. But Robert Tice isn't convinced that the AARP won't put making profits ahead of its members.
"The AARP has a moral responsibility," he says, "to be more clear that they are an insurance broker primarily, and that's where they make the majority of their money."
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The reason they want to change Medicare Advantage is because it turns out that there aren't any benefits to it but it costs more. CNN should do an article showing exactly which Medicare Advantage plans actually have added benefits and what the additional cost to the government is.
Leave the health insurance the way it is, People that work have what they pay for , that which they work extremely hard to have. The people that want to sit and let someone do the work for them, shouldnt have it. I consider my self lucky, being in the military, they're are a number of things like health insurance i do not pay for. But something like health insurance should never be handed out. The government should focus on more important issues like the oil companies, they control the very heart of the transportation industry in this country and yet the government doesn't pay them any attention. Why does every state add their own tax on top of what the fed gov. adds to the price of gas? If the oil companies and the government and the states tax the american population, then who cares for the actual citizen who is just getting gas to go to work or take care of his or her family?
Get a true prospective on the U.S. health care system ,go and see Michael Moore's documentary Sico . You know all Americans are out of touche with the rest of the civilized world,most of whom care about their fellow citizens , not just money. The Americans have got themselves convinced they are the most generous people in the world , the truth of the matter is many of the human services provided free by civilized countries in the world , have to depend on tax deductible hand outs in the good old U.S.A. Love Americans , fought side by side with them in ww2 ,but your government policies ,foreign and domestic are completely insane . America is far too much influenced by religion , not unlike the Muslim world .
If this healthcare bill is so good, why has congress opted themselves out? Also why are not all states participating?
So many people are short sighted, self centered and greedy it is unbelievable.
AARP has more conflicts of interest than one can imagine. It is a for profit business. It is not an organization that cares about members. Most people don't quit because they get AARP discount in hotels and motels.
No one who claims to be doing the right things for Americans in health care policy actually means it. I've listened to Washington DC politicians speaking about health care reform, but the reform will never happen because it always comes down to profits. If you can get past that point, we then have the hyenas spewing this foolish claim of socialism. We should admit that the US is looking more like a third world nation with every day that passes, and the same fools are re-elected into positions of power for their own selfish purposes, not you, and I.
If my math is correct, 150,000 members out of 40 million is only 0.375%! You make this "revolt" sound like such a big deal when it is not. A tiny percentage of a population such as this doesn't rate a national news story. Stop wasting our time with garbage news like this. It isn't even fit for the National Enquirer.
its all about Co-pays and No-pays. executive bonues and stockholder dividends. Heathcare is great until it gets to paying the bill. Employer based insurance is all a scam and a corporate monopoly supply chain to the insurance companies.
I keep seeing postings here and on other blogs about "choice" and freedom to pick your doctor. That is the largest scam of all. your insurance company and employer already controls that for you.
We need a strong public option. what happened to Blue Cross/Shield that once was a not for profit plan. ( ans wellpoint and stockholders)
BTW to the nitwit who made a pejorative remark about Barry Rand the new AARP CEO – he happens to be a graduate of Stanford Business School and is an exceptionally fine person. I suspect after all this hoopla he'll make adjustments. Let's evaluate them based upon their response to this public reaction.
Ask the AARP how many members have not renewed in two or three years when many like me whose mulityear membership still has years to run.
The AARP is toast , as far as I am concerned it doesn't exist!
AARP is another national organization that may have begun with good intentions, but has been overtaken by greed. I have never joined AARP because I witnessed how my parents were cajoled into AARP insurance and how poorly they were taken care of by those insurance companies. The premiums were inordinately high and the benefits low. Until this nation's lawmakers recognize the absurdity of having insurance companies exempt from the antitrust laws, those companies will continue to take advantage of all of us. We are all trapped in this game because we cannot afford to not have insurance and we cannot afford to have insurance. I am a retired federal employee who has good insurance coverage but have seen a reduction in my take-home retirement pay for eight of the last ten years because my cost-of-living raise did not cover the health insurance premium increase. This year neither federal retirees or social security recipients are getting a raise, but our insurance premiums are increasing (mine by 25%).
I am a member of AARP and will continue to support their efforts to help elderly Americans.
It is interesting to read complaints about subsidization of non-insured/poor Americans and cuts in Medicare Advantage / Medicare Part C in the same comment.
Here is a little history (taken from niemanwatchdog.org):
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 introduced a variety of managed care and other private plans into Medicare under a new Medicare Part C. The new options were called Medicare+Choice plans. As the name of the Act that created Part C implies, the idea was to save money by using private Medicare plans to finance care, while providing the same level of coverage as the traditional program – or more. Bruce Vladeck, formerly the Medicare Administrator, said in Congressional testimony in 2003 that “participation of private plans in Medicare has yet to save the Medicare program a nickel." That is still true.
"The lack of success of Medicare+Choice, however, did not end the privatizing of Medicare – nor did the departure of private insurers from Medicare in the late 1990s, when profits were deemed insufficient. The exodus then left many beneficiaries confused and scared that they were “losing their Medicare”. Instead, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 changed the Medicare+Choice name to “Medicare Advantage,” authorized over $150 billion in subsidies to encourage private plans to enter and remain in the Medicare market, and introduced the entirely private, Part D prescription drug system.
...
Congress and the Executive branch have failed to deal with lavish private Medicare subsidies and cost overruns. The subsidies result in costs of about 12 percent more, on average, to cover an enrollee in a private Medicare plan than in the traditional program.
In the last Congressional session, a powerful minority in the Senate blocked protection of the integrity and stability of the Medicare program by refusing to cut Medicare Advantage subsidies. Further, the Bush Administration threatened to veto any bill that even trimmed them. (NY Times, Medicare Private Plan Abuses, 12/26/2007; NY Times, Two Insurers Increase Bet on Medicare, Milt Freudenheim, 12/5/2007. The Times stands almost alone among news organizations for its coverage of Medicare issues.)
Thus it appears that cost-saving is no longer the mission of privatizing Medicare. Corporate Medicare subsidies continue into 2008, notwithstanding repeated studies, and little debate, about their wastefulness. Unless action is taken, private Medicare plans will collect their $150 billion in subsidies while doctors who care for Medicare patients face a 10 percent cut in pay in mid-year....
The cost of private Medicare is borne by taxpayers and by all people with Medicare. These unnecessary expenses lead to increases in Part B premiums and encourage plan proliferation and marketing abuses by companies looking to benefit from the robust Medicare payments. The overpayments affect all Americans by weakening the financial stability of the Medicare program and by increasing federal expenditures. Even a recent study by a for-profit insurance industry group shows that, at best, private Medicare plans spend 300-400 percent more on administration than traditional Medicare. (Council for Affordable Health Insurance, Medicare’s Hidden Administrative Costs: A Comparison of Medicare and the Private Sector, Merrill Mathews, 1/10/2006.)"
Info. provided by:
Judith Stein is the founder and executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., and has long focused on legal representation of the elderly.
E-mail: jstein@medicareadvocacy.org
People who complain that they work hard and pay their insurance premiums while other people who would take advantage of public health care are missing two points. First, there is no need for private health insurance companies who run solely to make profit. New flash, not everything in this world should be for profit. As a Christian, it pains me to see people treat good health and health care as a privilege, its not. Everyone should have health care, and if the government offers a public option that costs less and provides better care, here's a hint smartguy, tell those bloodsuckers you've been giving 6000 a year to for substandard care to take a hike. Secondly, just because you make a good salary, it doesn't mean you work harder than anyone else. Just because a person does not make as much as you do, does not make them a lazy person. I agree that some are, but there are plenty of white collar workers who skate by and essentially steal a paycheck as well.
Although the bills before both houses have been severely mamed they are both better than nothing. I was hesitant to join AARP just because I didn't want to admit to myself that I was that old. I have been enjoying their magazine when I pick it up from my folks house after they are done with it. I know they make money off other things but I have always thought they were the closest thing to collective bargaining and a PAC for old people that any middle class wage earner over 50 was going to get.
You can bet, that after I heard about the folks quitting, I joined. Yes, it's true. When I heard my parents say they were thinking about quitting, I asked why, they told me basically because Glenn Beck had said they ought to. After talking for awhile they admitted that they agree with everything AARP has done recently, that a single payer (everybody on medicare) with an option to buy more insurance if you aren't happy would be better than what we have now. But that they just weren't happy with 'this administration' which is code for Democrats. As in ...'my team', not good governance, just 'my team'. That is where we have failed as a country we have allowed both parties to turn this into a competition of party identity not a competition of good ideas and governance for the middle class. Right now.. the uber rich and the dirt poor get the gravy, while what is left of the middle class make the bread.
Like the gentleman in the picture above, I am letting my AARP membership lapse in a couple of months. I am also bombarded daily, so it seems, with AARP insurance literature and on TV ads. Have requested in 2008 that the mailings stop and was assured that it will be arranged.
Since then, the Magazine stopped arriving but the insurance junk keeps on coming. Goodbye AARP!
Socialism and Democrats will fail, as theys will eventually run out of other-peoples-money....tax and tax baby....wait till you see the taxes ahead of you in this decade. Worse than the mess LBJ started!
Does any govermental agency moderates or regulates AARP?
Amen Kathy you got it right. The engineers I work with in Quebec pay 45% in taxes and they are NOT upper class. Still they end up in the USA for major medical issues because the wait in Canada can be 6 months to 2 years depending on how they rate your medical condition. We do not want to have this health care model.
I am not one of the approx. 150,000 that have left AARP. But I am one that will be leaving when my membership expires. I started thinking back about why I joined AARP in the first place. It sure wasn't to purchase any insurance. I thought this was the place to educate myself about heading in the right direction for a successful retirement. That ain't happening.
And to top it off, AARP has decided to join other groups to bolster any legislation that would affect the others. This is way beyond what I anticipated and the goal for seniors becomes too diluted.
I was dumped by AARP on another issue. My aunt, 87, with memory problems has been hassled by magazine supscription agents–has Time magazine subscribed to 2033. She was paying over $1000 a year and could not understand what she was doing, given her dementia (now a brain tumor). When I tried to stop it, letters and phone calls were very nasty. I tried to get AARP, and Time interested in the issue of older people being threatened–but was blown off. It would have been a good issue for an article–to help people. Some associations get a life of their own–it is a business, if the cash flows, there is no reason to look at other things–as GM and paper publishers have learned.
I dropped AARP a long time ago because I saw that they were just
about insurance, and offered no advocacy that I could see benefited
seniors. I can get much better insurance coverage at better rates elsewhere than I can with AARP. People that join AARP are just romanticizing sentimentally. AARP approved the Democratic health care
reform bill because they got concessions.
quoting By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGan –
http://www.newsmax.com/morris/healthcare_reform_bribe
The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.
Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP - which supposedly represents them - will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group; contact sbarton@americanseniors.org. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)
I agree that AARP is just out for their own profit and really don't care about retired anymore. Both AARP and Health Care bill are shams cut out of the same trough. No Renewal Here... I get more benefit from my AAA card!
What a bunch of loonies you all seem to be! No one is going to force you to give up your insurance, except your insurance itself. Three years ago I had great insurance from my job; today I only have good insurance from the same job. In five years I will probably have to go outside my job to get coverage, and it would be nice if the govt has a cheap and decent plan by then.
All this stuff about death panels and communism makes you sound like a pack of gullible high school kids. Hitler, the "Mao Clinic," is there anything you won't fall for? You even think we are governed by czars? Wow.
One of the other things that affect the healthcare costs for everyone is the free healthcare that is given to illegal aliens. I recently took a relative to a U.S. Public Health Clinic and was amazed to find that we were the only two English speaking people in a crowded waiting room. In addition, before they could be treated, Interpretors had to be found so that they could find out what was wrong with them. Since Illegals pay no taxes, guess who pays for the healthcare (and Interpretors) that they receive?
I agree that the AARP is full of BS about health insurance. I have sent many an e-mail to them about their own plan which is run by United Healthcare out of Minnesota. This was the outfit whose CEO, Dr. Bill McGuire, was forced out by Minnesota's Attorney General. When McGuire was hired, he was given as part of his pay package stock options worth 1.6 billion dollars which is totally obscene.
Some months ago my wife and I heard a talk by the former head of the MN Hennepin County Hospital [Minneapolis] about HR 22, the original single-payer plan submitted to Congress. It provided for even long care at a nursing home or assisted living. I could theink of a better plan.
AARP is nothing more than a large insurance agency. It takes our membership dues and uses the money to market insurance to us.
Brilliant. They supported the Bush Medicare D plan that blocks buying from Canada and competitive bidding. The bill was developed by drug and insurance companies.
They are not for seniors. They are part of the insurance industry and support insurance magnates along with the Chamber of Commerce and Insurance Lobby. No different.
Congratulations to AARP for taking a gutsy stand, knowing they would take flak for supporting a solution to our fractured health care system. I'm more pleased with my AARP membership than ever.
The House and Senate bills may be far from perfect, and I hope they will be improved during the conference process before being signed into law, but in any event the outcome will be better than what we have now. The current system is an appalling disgrace that leaves millions without care and more millions facing financial ruin if they lose coverage and have pre-existing conditions.
I don't care if AARP receives income from endorsing insurance and other programs–which I would never buy without shopping first–as long as they support issues that are important to seniors in the long run, such as reform of our screwed-up health care system.
I've seen the reverse problem with the US Chamber of Commerce. As the owner of a family run small business, currently, nearly 8% of my gross profits go towards providing catastrophic insurance for four people, making health insurance one of my largest business expenses. I talk to lots of other small business owners and self-employed people that are in the same boat. Yet for various reasons the US C of C continues to fight health insurance reform and cost containment tooth and nail, against the best interests of most small businesses. Just follow the money.
As an AARP member I am very disappointed that they have choosen to sell their souls to the highest bidder. They are a totally criminal activity misleading senior citizens to enhance their bottom line.
By the way, as an example, the AARP auto insurance, through Hartford is is double what I pay for same coverage auto insurance elsewhere.
As for the hysteria concerning health care reform, just get the facts straight before posting nonsense. Doesn't matter which side of the fence you support. Facts not truth.
My wife and I had been AARP members for nearly 20 years. At first it seemed to be a reasonable organization. But after I actually read the proposed legislation there was no way we could support that or the AARP.
Anyone who will take the time to actually read this stuff will see what it actually is. AARP doesn't seem to understand that this will only increase, not decrease what the average person will be paying out (including our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren,...) only the names that these costs get called – taxes, fees, fines, passed along costs, etc. will change.
Yes, we have cancelled, and we advising everyone we know to do so likewise
Most of the bloggers on here make it sound like retired people on medicare have to have United Health Care as their supplemental insurer if they are an AARP member. I am an AARP member and have Providence as my supplemental health provider and it costs me only $100 a month. Those of you that are complaining United Health costs too much....do some research and pick a different supplemental health provider. Being a member of AARP doesn't mean you have to use United Health. DUH! Another example of seniors not using their brains.
Being a member of AARP has saved me $250/month by switching over to The Hartford for both my car insurance and my homeowners insurance. I am more than happy to be a member of their organization . Paying only $36/yr for dues, I feel has been a good investment. I save almost 10 times that amount on my insurance payments just because I am a member.
As a senior depending on Medicare, I have seen what Medicare does to health care providers. I have had medical procedures done where Medicare reduced payment by 75.5 % from the billed charge! I doubt that you could have gotten that procedure done on your dog (no disrespect toward dogs; I love them) for what the health care providers received.
Medicare apparently expects Physicians to treat seniors as a charity! No wonder some Physicans and hospitals will not treat Medicare patients.
I had a bright, caring dermatologist who had just left the military to join a private practice. When I tried to schedule an appoint one year later, I was told that he had left the private practice and returned to the military. No doubt, he found that there's more grief and red tape in private practice than in the military!
AARP sold us out, there is no question about it. I hope there will be a ground swell of revolt when people realize what they have done.
Calling health care reform "socialism" is just the frustrated talking about the "boogeyman" and trying to manipulate the under educated.
Health care reform has nothing to do with improving access to or quality of health care.
It has to do with power and money. It has to do with the political elite gaining control of a massive portion of the economy and a significant part of the private lives of Americans. This is about redistribution of wealth and raw power for power's sake, and that is all it is about.
The Left seems to believe that America will remain an oppressive, unfair country until the state controls every detail of every aspect of our lives. What a terrible, tragic misplacement of trust.
I am letting my membership lapse. Once was AARP was good for retired persons. The insurance companies bought the management and now they are just another broker with their hands in our pockets. They are just driving up the insurance cost. Legal corruption.
To make one thing perfectly clear AARP does not seek nor in any way help retired persons any more or less than Dunkin Donuts. Wait, I'm wrong – Dunkin Donuts has a senior discount and a good cup of coffee.
Doesn't anyone remember AARP pushing the scam Medicare Prescription Drug Act, assuring us it was good for us? That bill is good for the drug companies only, who have made as killing because their lobbyist wrote the bill that was literally passed in the dead of night and fiercly supported by AARP. . I have and continue to refuse to join AARP because they have never demonstrated to me that they have my best interest at heart, just my money. AARP is no better than the drug and insurance company lobbyist and I am surprised why anyone would join this scam organization, There is nothing remotely beneficial for Americans in this heath care bill that allows the insurance companies to really stick it to us, with PENALTIES if we don't cooperate. The drug companies continue to stick it to us with the Medicare Prescription Drug Extortion Act. When are we going to wake up and collectively say enough is enough? Our representatives clearly don't represent us anymore. They just say what they think we want to hear to get elected then once on office, get great insurance that we pay for, then immediately abandon us in favor of the mega corporations and their lobbyists and that fact is bipartisan. We have the buying power so why aren't we saying no more and filing class action lawsuits or marching or taking some kind of action? This is America and we are being forced by corporations to buy their products, like health insurance, with no competition. Where are the tea baggers now? Where are the progressives? Why aren't all of us marching in protests because clearly, writing to your elected officials isn't working?
I've been a member of AARP for 12 years, but I canceled my membership the same day they endorsed the government's takeover of our health care system. AARP no longer represents the best interests of American seniors – in fact, it's likely they never did. Their organization is little more than another cog in the government's propaganda machine.
Regardless of the merits, or lack thereof, of Congress' health care reform, AARP needs to come clean on exactly what its business interests are. If it is essentially in the insurance business as its detractors claim, it needs to disclose that, and keep on disclosing that, so that others can evaluate its positions critically. If it is primarily representing the interests of its 40 million members on issues that they have in common, and at the same time AARP has business interests that stand to gain (or lose) depending upon the position it advocates, that needs to be out in the open.
Now that people are upset with AARP and its apparently being beholden to or a part of the insurance industry, let's see similar anger, and a push for disclosure and transparancy, aimed at all of our elected officials. Tell us how much money each gets and from whom. Detail each and every meeting any elected official has with anyone representing a special interest group. Post it all on the elected officials website.
Anyone want to bet that if the light of day is shone on the shenanigans that pass as politics in the U.S. there will be a whole lot of cockroaches scurrying for cover?
I'm not surprised at the difficulty and unfairness that is related to this health-care reform. In Canada, we pay less in taxes that pay for our system than Americans are paying for insurance. Yes, we may need to wait for non-essential surgeries but knowing that my health care is determined by the doctors treating me and not the insurance coverage I purchased is a huge weight off my mind. The United States has for too long allowed the Insurance companies to profit from the need for healthcare. I feel sorry for those who have been denied coverage because it does not fit into the profitability of the insurance company. Insurance companies are financial institutions with profit as the only motive. Profit = premiums + deductibles – (healthcare & administrative) costs. So, it is the duty of the employees of insurance to decrease costs, i.e. healthcare (administrative is their jobs, they wouldn't want to cut those). As a duel citizen of US and Canada, I'm glad to live in Canada primarily because of healthcare.
Instead of creating a new lobby. Why not get rid of them all together? Instead of allow these people to tell our government what to do, let's go vote. Let's tell them what we want. When you give power over to another, you can only hope they do what you expect. So, why add another middle man.
This 'new' health care reform legislation bill is a 'joke' and the 'joke' is on us.. Without the 'public option' and 'no' lower cost for Medicare Plan B, and 'no' lowering of age to apply or qualify for Medicare, and 'no' lowering of income per year to apply or qualify for Medicaid.., then there is 'NO' new affordable health care reform bill for "all" Americans'. We will still have 'millions' of Americans' without adequate affordable health care insurance. This new health care reform legislation bill is really a 'joke'. Affordable health care insurance for "all" Americans'. Our Senators' should be ashamed of themselves.., including 'our' President. As for my Senators' in my state of Montana, they 'never' listened to their constituents'. The big corporate 'greedy' health care and pharmaceutical companies won this one.., 'not' the American people ! Mike in Montana
I joined the aarp several years ago when it was supposed to looking out for senior citzens,It noe has become a liberal politacal party.I eill not renew my supscripton any more,or by any insurance. JBN
Hello,
My question is, "Why the donut hole was invented"?
I am lucky enough to be on a net $29,000.00 per year income. Guess where most of that goes to? I finally got to the donut hole in December of 2009, due the loss of my husband; getting every drug I'm on to the generic brand; and having to spend $4500.00 out of pocket during the donut hole. I'm trying to maintain my independence by living in a apartment with the usual utilities; car maintenance; life, renter's, car insurance premiums. Oh, and purchase food. Being diabetic and in the donut hole, I pay $100.00 per month for ONE bottle of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels.
When I finally reached the catastrophic level – oh wow, my meds only cost $2.80. I am so sick of being blindly robbed of my limited funds. Please stop it NOW !!!!!!!!!
I dropped my AARP membership years ago, when they supported an issue, prescription drug bill, that I felt was not in the best interest of "retired people". Also, when I was researching supplemental insurance to compliment Medicare, AARP had THE highest rates. As far as getting a discount at motels/hotels, what about asking "Is that the best you can do?" It has always worked for me. So what DO they do for seniors? I fail to come up with a satisfying answer other than generating income for the executives and sending out invitations to join. My life is quite content without them.
I did not renew my AARP membership because they insisted on distributing my contact information to commercial companies for their profit. I asked three times (twice by mail and once by email) to have my name removed from their mailing lists. Nothing changed. Then the AARP had the nerve to write an short article in their magazine advising members on the best way to deal with unsolicited junk mail. They have no business giving advice on this matter when they are guilty of the same offense. It makes you wonder what their "business" really is.
I love it when I read, "millions of people are without health care, millions will die". This is so untrue in America. I for one know that the hospital in the are I live can't not refuse you service if you do not have health insurance. They will even write it off once you prove you can't pay. Do I think health care needs reform, YES. The big thing is – I want it done right. To be done right we have to do it calmly and in the right mind, stop the scare tactics.
Wake up my fellow Americans. Don't believe the lies of the the Demos or the Republics. Use your own brain.
People need to understand the Baby Boomer population is now entering retirement age. The funding calculations for medicare coverage of the retired is not even anywhere near what it was 40 years ago upon it's conception. Therefore, no other alternative exists but to make medicare with our new health care bill more cost efficient and yet cover more folks. Those of you who are disillusioned with a new bill can't see the forrest for the trees...without any modification of calculations for funding and expansion...the incoming baby boomer generation with the increase of enrollees to medicare would evntually bankrupt medicare. This is health care and efficient business. It's no longer a conservative or liberal issue. Those of you disregarding the need for a new health care bill really don't care about making it more efficient. Your more concerned with supporting medicare bankruptcy.......
So....AARP has 40million members before November, and now they have 41.85 million members.....Sounds like support for Health Care Reform to me.
Also, rates on medicare supplement plans will vary among providers. Rates are determined by the number of claims filed in your area or state by people who purchase the same policy.
When there is a BIG discrepency in rates among competitors its not because the benefits differ(Plan F thru AARP is the same benefits as Plan F from another provider), Its in the type of contract you sign with that provider. In most states AARP offers "Community" rated contracts. A community rated contract means you pay the same price for coverage at age 70, 75, 80, even 100 years old as some who is 65 years old would pay. When rates differ by 50-60dollars a month, its because you are signing an attained-age rated contract. Those contracts see rate increases once a year like community rated contracts, but you also see in increase on the month of your birthday as you get older. By about age 75 Attained Age rated contracts are more expensive then community rated. My recommendation is shop around every year. You can change Supplement carriers anytime during the year.
People need to understand the Baby Boomer population is now entering retirement age. The funding calculations for medicare coverage of the retired is not even anywhere near what it was 40 years ago upon it's conception. Therefore, no other alternative exists but to make medicare with our new health care bill more cost efficient and yet cover more folks. Those of you who are disillusioned with a new bill can't see the forrest for the trees...without any modification of calculations for funding and expansion...the incoming baby boomer generation with the increase if enrollees to medicare would bankrupt medicare. This is health care and efficient business. It's no longer this new bill the AARP a conservative or liberal issue. Those of you diregarding the need for a new bill really don't care about making it more efficient. Your more concerned with supporting medicare bankruptcy.......
I decided long ago that AARP was not the ally I originally thought.
I am so disappointed in them that I also will let my membership lapse. It seems that the benefit I received most was the steady receipt of circulars, both by mail and email. Good Bye, AARP
Helthcare Reform is a good thing no matter how one tries to muddy the water!
Doctors, Nurses, AARP, moderates, independants,regular folks- we all want this country to be better and do a better job of providing medicine to its people.
We dont have to follow the cold logic of the detractors!
Doesn't anyone remember AARP pushing the scam Medicare Prescription Drug Act, telling us it was good for us? That bill is good only for the drug companies only, who have made as killing because their lobbyist wrote the bill that was literally passed in he dead of night and firecly supported by AARP. . I have and continue to refuse to join AARP because they have never demonstrated to me that they have my best interest at heart, just my money. AARP is no better than the drug and insurance company lobbyist and I am surprised why anyone would join this scam organization, There is nothing remotely beneficial for Americans in this heath care bill that allows the insurance companies to really stick it to us, as drug companies continue to do with the Medicare Prescription Drug Extortion Act. When are we going to wake up and collectively say enough is enough? Our representatives clearly don't represent us anymore. They just say what they think we want to hear to get elected then once on office, get great insurance that we pay for, then immediately abandon us in favor of the mega corporations and their lobbyists and that fact is bipartisan. We have the buying power so why aren't we saying no more and filing class action lawsuits or marching or taking some kind of action? This is America and we are being forced by corporations to buy their products, like health insurance, with no competition. Where are the tea baggers now? Where are the progressives? Why aren't all of us marching in protests because clearly, writing to your elected officials isn't working?
People need to understand the Baby Boomer population is now entering retirement age. The funding calculations for medicare coverage of the retired is not even anywhere near what it was 40 years ago upon it's conception. Therefore, no other alternative exists but to make medicare with our new health care bill more cost efficient and yet cover more folks. This of you who are disillusioned can't see the forrest for the trees...without any modification of calculations for funding and expansion...the incoming baby boomer generation with the increase if enrollees to medicare would bankrupt medicare. This is health care and efficient business. It's no longer this new bill the AARP a conservative or liberal issue. Those of you diregarding the need for a new bill really don't care about making it more efficient. Your more concerned with supporting medicare bankruptcy.......
I have been a member of AARP for a number of years. It seems to me that the organization should have let the members vote on whether or not the organization supports the Health Care Bill. If the endorsement doesn't represent the view of the membership it is meaningless.
Hopefully all those who are against health care will soon die and the rest of us can finally join the rest of the civilized world with better treatment of all our citizens, not just the ones who hate taxes to the point of suicide. Although I am thinking they should seriously consider it. I am not afraid of taxes, nor am I afraid to work. I have two college degrees, my own chocolate business and I work about 65 hours a week for 2 companies, 1 of which is as a medical insurance billing specialist which cost me $15,000 for the degree. I am 36 yo and make $11,000 a year. I have to live with my father who is disabled because I cannot afford even government housing. Guess how much I get from the government? $0! Guess how much health care I have? $0! I had to battle the swine flu with my dad's antibiotics and pray to Buddah – which worked I might add! If you think that it's all about a free handout and bailouts and gubmint checks, you are not only wrong, but you are completely ignorant and counterproductive to society (I know I know society = socialism, but whatcha gonna do? Move to the moon?). Overpopulation, baby, that's what is going to take this world down. And the US can't support its own population now, imagine what will happen in the next 10 years if we cannot make room for more help for people who are hardworking, underpaid, overqualified job seekers? We are going to look a lot like India, and it aint pretty.
as the article indicates, aarp is an insurance program. its activities are for the purpose of maximizing its insurance profits. otherwise aarp would have fought the medicare advantage cuts and the medicare cuts. it's about time the aarp leadership's incomes were looked at. i don't know what this is but i am sure it is huge. the bottom line is that these people are the "owners" of aarp, which runs for their benefit.
After reading this article, I'm going to the AARP web site to renew my membership. Any organization that fights against the so-called Medicare Advantage plans can't be that bad. These plans were allowed by law, when the GOP was in power. So, we know who benefits from them, and it certainly isn't the American people.
AARP stinks and is out of touch with we older folks
who are members,they might as well be labeled, Always,Always
Republican Party.
They should have fought for a public option but then that would
cut into there insurance business.
If both the report and my math are correct, AARP lost about one third of one percent of its members due to its stand on health care reform. This means well over 99 percent of its members did not jump ship. The numbers speak for themselves.
Considering every time the aarp tries to get me to join they always are pushing health insurance, I think I'll pass.
it's all about the bottom line, not what they can do for me.
The rest of you scum bags that wish to push YOUR idea of health care on me? Get some balls, do it to my face so I can spit on you.
I don't want to hurt you by the way, I would rather see you dead. Thats what should happen to all theives. Death at the hands of those they try to rob.
If AARP would like to lower drug costs to ts membership it should form a 'buying group' that consists of all it's members. That is what hospitals do through buying groups such as Premier and Novation. Premier and Novation then negotiate discounts and rebates from the pharmaceutical manufacturers to insure that their member hospitals get the best price possible. Those savings are then passed on to the member hospitals. The buying power of such a large group of high volume drug users would almost gaurantee substantial reductions in the cost of drugs to seniors.
The number of "new or renewed" memberships sounds a lot like the number of "new or saved jobs" to me. Perhaps CNN should have given a different statistic on the number of "lost or never-to-become" memberships.
I would NEVER be stupid enough to give money to an organization that purports to represent me while trying to sell me something at the same time.
So maybe you should put the "never-to-become" stat at around 7 million people, it's just as rational as saying 2 million new or renewed memberships, almost all of which are on automatic renewal agreements.
Lies and deception, that's what you get from politicians and lobbyists.
Lets see, old grumpy people getting upset over a scary thing called 'change', no news here. Its you old farts that got our got our health care system and government to its current state, now you get to reap what you have sown, enjoy.
Since there are all kind of movements against health care reform. It is time to put a movement together for health care reform.
Believe me I really believe that President Obama is trying to do the right thing for all Americans, and they cannot see the forest for the tree. I pray for President Obama every day, and hope that the country can see he is only trying to help not hinder.
Timmy, our great nation was destroyed by George Bush. Your selective memory is astounding.
If the Health Care Bill passes in its present form, the Lobbyist, and Insurance Companies including AARP will win again, along with the Senators and Congressmen who are being paid off. People need to use the brain God gave them. Without the Public Option, Insurance Companies have no reason to reduce premiums and costs as their will not be any competition. The Insurance Companies and Lobbyist have paid out millions in order to increase their profits in future years and it is certainly not a free country when our Government forces its citizens to pay insurance premiums. Many people worry about a Social system but maybe should be more worried about a communist system. I like President Obama but the representatives will not let him pass the bill he and the majority of the people desire. By the way, I am a Senior citizen who has never joined the AARP as the cost of insurance it offers is higher than other places I can get it. Obviously 2 million people are being sucked in like fish in a pond. May God help of all.
I never joined AARP because all they seemed to offer was insurance and they wanted to control legislation. I support health care reform so at least they aren't voting against me but I don't support the notion that they would attempt to control legislation. I feel the same way about GOP and DEM. They rarely represent MY interests. Our 2 party system sucks and so does these political groups. The government needs to focus on military and basic laws protecting constitutional rights and get out of the way of the people.
Typical right wing Tea Bagger. "I've got mine and I don't care about anyone else who needs healthcare."
Sour grapes from sour old people.
The charlatans who run AARP have their own agenda, and they no longer represent the best interests of the members. They never polled the membership to find out what the majority wants, so how can they take a position on any issue, much less healthcare. They're worse than a labor union when you think about it.
They deserve to lose millions of members .....including me. We need a new organization to represent our interests. Good bye to AARP.
I'm not surprised by AARP's endorsement of the Health Care Bill. In fact, when I gathered car insurance quotes, as well as health insurance quotes, I found AARP to be among the most expensive. I've stopped assuming they have my interests at heart and hope others are realizing the same. I now view AARP as just another for-profit business.
After reading this I will not join AARP
I am a self-employed 64-year-old consultant, who sought to but AARP health insurance last year. I was denied for mild hypertension which has been controlled by medication for years. That means the AARP insurance carrier is cherry-picking. It IS a sham.
I am one of those AARP members who have quit their membership and the AARP is not telling the truth about just 150,000 quiting. I read in the LA Times last month that it was approximately 3,000,000 that have quit. The AARP did NOT start out looking for good deals for seniors in insurance, they started out with discounted trips, money saving coupons and advice about senior centers and health services. They fought for us in Washington. Not now. Has anyone out there in AARP received any dicount coupons or reduced trips offers?? I think not! In the last 10 years I have received only insurance offers only! The new black CEO, who donated to Obama election is selling the white retirees out. Plain and simple!
I dropped out of AARP 10 years ago and they still won't take me off of their solicitation lists. To this day I get unwanted and unsolciited offers to rejoin and also to buy health and life insurance. AARP is definitely an organization concerned with lining its pockets and not too concerned with the membership, as I have been addressed by very rude AARP staff when asking to be taken off their mailing lists. I will never join AARP ever again.
Timmy,
I'm so sorry you're paying over $500/month for your family. I pay over $700 a month just for me. It's not employer sponsered since I lost my full time job over 4 years ago an d no one will hire someone over 55. All I've had is a series of temporary jobs with no benefits. I've sold my house and am down to about $15K in savings. What will I do then. BTW I can't get insurance elsewhere due to pre-existing conditions.
Reform is needed.
I agree with Robert Tice who was mentioned in the story. AARP is about insurance and I have had enough. Earlier this year, we re-fianced our house and the broker mentioned our AARP home insurance premium appeared to be quite high and suggested we get quotes from other insurers. Our AARP premium was almost $1100 and the new premium was less than $600! Our auto insurance also declined $100 after we switched from AARP. When our current AARP membership expires, there won't be any renewal. Then all of the different types of insurance offers from AARP will also, hopefully, stop arriving in the mailbox.
AARP is an Obama-nation. Just drink the juice.
I suggest people watch the film "Sicko" but with the thought that Moore has his own political agenda. It is a very interesting and thought provoking film nonetheless. The best part was when Moore went to Great Britian and asked random people in a hospital and asked random people how much it was costing them to be there. They laughed. He even pointed out that hospitals in Europe don't even have a cashier or billing department. Unfortunatly the HealthCare Industry in the US is a business. What is the purpose of a business? To make money. Yes health care might be "free" to people in other parts of the world but they are taxed to the gills on everything else which just shows that health care does come with a price. The American Dream idea has been so blown out of proportion. What is it suppossed to be anyway? To have freedom or to make so much money at the cost of stepping on people to get it. To the person who made the comment "People with less are not owed by people with more..." Don't you think that's a bit selfish? It's not a handout it's called having compassion for someone else whose American Dream just hasn't quite come true.
I quit AARP a year ago based on their constant baggering of me to BUY their insurance plans. Its a mony making enterprise, an insult to members who once trusted them, and a fraud to say their mission is to lobby for senior issues. My wife refuses to become a member as well. I'm spreading the truth to ALL that will listen
AARP is a joke!
I was one that doubt about what AARP was planing with our money.
The money we, the retired people save through MEDICARE to face
this hard times.
AARP sent me a letter to thank me for enrolling in AARP. i WAS sur-
prised by such letter; okay, I said to myself, let see what is behind
that letter. My response was that "How could I receive this commu-
nication whan I had not seen an Agent, I have not sign any form with
any information accepting anything. I got no answer. I made a tele-
phone call, to question why I got their letter. I wanted to talk with
some one in charge there. The representative on line just said
the company was sold, so you belong to the new one (AARP).
Unbeliable !! I decided to disenrol, and I deed !!. Thank God.
Jose Alcantara
As soon as I joined the AARP I got so much junk mail, it was unbelievable!
The AARP, like ant union, is caring for its management and lining its own pockets
I cancel my AARP membership to keep my sanity
AARP sold its membership out. There is no question about it. When the Medicare cuts take hold and seniors lose their doctors, all of the b.s. promises made by AARP will be exposed. I have been a member of this organization of 2 years and have NEVER been polled or asked my opinion on any subject. My sole reason for remaining a member is for discounted auto/homeowners insurance. And if I can find a comparable policy elsewhere, I'm gone.
I gave up on AARP years ago because all of their programs are a scam. I ask who will be paying the bills when the whole system collapses and the government printing presses are broken?? It's coming I assure you, buy as much ammo as you can afford because your gonna need it.
I also sent a letter to AARP regarding the misrepresentation of senior citizens. We should all unite and send emails to all our friends and families regarding the expensive Medigap insurance and the fact they would vote for the Medicare cuts. These cuts will close more hospitals and have our seniors in harm's way. I voted for the Democrats thinking they would represent the people, but they forgot the seniors. The Baby Boomers put more money into the system than any other group and now we will collect zero.
AARP stopped being an advocate for seniors the minute it created a conflict of interest with their insurance business. Any policy endorsements should reflect the opinions of their members, and if that opinion is in any way influenced by such conflicts of interest it should be withheld entirely.
Put another way: AARP is one more special-interest group and should be ignored. It's members have the right and ability to communicate directly with their representatives and should exercise that ability.
People always complain no matter what. Can some seniors show better deal offer by the others companies ? Stop complaining. In order to fix everything , we need to change the heath care system but republicans and insurance industry don t want it!!! Please think for yourself instead of listen others. Ask your senator and your congressman to listen to you instead of always blaming Obama
When Congress passes any legislation, such as the healthcare bill and will not require themselves to be a part of it... then it is not good legislation. Give me the same insurance they have! Do not be fooled America this is a cash cow that is going to get hugh over the years and it will be our fault, by putting in office politicians who care about their self interest only! Before it is over with, it will not help you, only the ones who do not work and have their hands out. AARP will profit from this and laugh all the way to the bank!
I have a vague recollection of a similar problem with AARP 20 or 30 years ago in which they were posing as an advocate for old folks but in fact were peddling insurance. I believe there was a congressional investigation and they agreed to mend their ways.
The AARP is a fraud, interested only in their bottom line. They no more represent retired people than Adoph Hitler did. I had their health insurance until I got fed up with their yearly increases. The AARP is despicible and should be run out of business. And that's how I feel about them when I'm in a good mood!
People, people. Where do you think the money will come from to pay for the new health care reform???? Do England, France and others have better healthcare than we do? I don't know. What I do know, is that a French teacher I had said that, while everyone was covered by public insurance, 1/3 (that's ONE THIRD) of their paychecks went to pay for public insurance. Are you/we willing to pay that? That means that if you make $100,000 a year, $33,000 will be taken out for insurance. That's how much Frances FREE public insurance costs.
Is it not time to cover every citizen and allow for all to access the excellent healthcare available in the U.S.
I've been a long-time member of the AARP. I am not going to renew my membership. AARP has sold out to the insurance companies. Please don't embarrass yourself by calling me a right-winger, tea-bagger, etc. Name calling doesn't change the fact that health care reform is cutting support for seniors.
I was so angry at the AARP for endorsing the health bill that I tried to contact them and found that they have made it nearly impossible. I wanted to tell them that I was not going to renew my membership either. If anyone knows how to get in touch with them, please tell me.
Hey Timmy – stop getting wrapped up around your shorts. Your listening to too much FOX News! Your benefit costs are not changing. What I hope will change is the 300% increase in my insurance copay that has happened just in the last 5 years – all the while, my covered benefits have gone down.
If you were smart, instead, you'd be calling your Senator to push for Canadian drug imports as part of the Bill. That will help push down the cost of medications. That copay has gone from $10-20 a few years ago to $60-$120 today!
So Timmy, before you stink yourself on your tire marks, stop listening to FOX. And by the way, all that stuff about "redistribution of wealth?" - it's already happened, your just missed it as greedy executives paid themselves excess bonuses they did not earn and George "Genius" Bush upped the ante by giving the very same people a tax break.
If you're in the middle class, Timmy, you got "boobkus"!
Mark me down as another senior who will not be supporting AARP any longer. I wanted to express my displeasure to them via their website, but they have no mechanism for feedback from the public – only ways to sign you up for more services or other revenue-generating functions.
AARP has become one more partisan organization, more interested in promoting its agenda than in listening and building consensus. I have no idea what their vision or purpose is any longer.
But I know they don't represent me.
It's all a scam – AARP / Congress / the entire health care industry. How is it that we live in the most powerful and productive country in the world, but we allow insurance companies to get rich off the sicknesses and illnesses of our country. I'm sorry if your not well to do, you get to stay sick... what kind of country is this? The health care bill that is being worked on is a joke and won't solve anything. The Dems even had to bribe some of their own to get them to vote for it. Like that doesn't tell you their all crooks. I've always been a bit right of center when it comes to politics, but WE NEED A COMPLETE NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. Yeah, what Canada, England, and France have isn't perfect, but it is so much better than what we have here. Sure they pay higher taxes, but I already pay $600 a month in health care insurance thru my employer – I'd gladly pay that towards taxes each month to get the entire country insured. That's what everyone forgets, yeah taxes would go up, but there wouldn't be anymore payroll insurance deductions. Take the controversial issues off the table, abortion, doctor assisted suicide, cosmetic surgery and let the government health care system take care of everything else. Also, everyone would pay including illegals because the taxes would be paid partly via national sales tax. Our system today only makes the insurance companies rich, only in America. Isn't life great !!
AARP is a cooperative sales organization they "Prey's" and I do mean Preys on Senior Citizens. Fortunately many of us are not yet foolish enough to buy their garbage sales pitches. AARP basically resells to the Senior Community at a huge margin which benefits their upper management. Of course they Lobby congress and of course they support the bejezus out of the Liberal Left because what they preach is 'collectivism" which always sells well with those who are less capable of making it on their own. Fraud and Flimflam.
Wow, the trolls are out in force today. The number crunchers have CONFIRMED many times that the reform will maintain people's existing coverage level, add coverage for many without insurance and WILL CUT COSTS across the board except for those greedy SOB employers like Walmart that can afford to provide some coverage for their employees but instead leave it to the rest of us to pick up the tab when their employees go to the emergency room for free care.
The really sad thing is, if we offered all of our citizens Medicare/Medicaid we could cut our costs almost in half and make our businesses more globally competitive! Think about it, insurance companies add NO value to our healthcare system yet they take almost 40% of every healthcare dollar. They have successfully killed virtually everything that was good in the healthcare reform bill and instead turned it into a huge giveaway to the insurance industry all because honest Republicans refused to participate in good faith and many of the Democrats and Republicans that did participate choose to be crooks and use it as an opportunity to sell their votes to the highest bidder instead of representing the people that elected them. The level of stupidity in this country never ceases to amaze me.