So often during the health care debate we’ve heard: “If you
like it, you can keep it.” But who’s heard of this significant exception:
“unless you’re a senior with a Medicare health plan”?
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that 3
million seniors will lose their Medicare health plan coverage and 3 million
fewer seniors will enroll in such a plan if the current bill passed through the
Ways and Means Committee, H.R. 3200, becomes law.
With a large senior constituency and an array of health
insurance products to sell, there’s a lot at stake for AARP in the health care
debate. In public statements, and during a personal meeting in my office
in July, AARP representatives have advocated for H.R. 3200, stating: “This bill
would make great strides for all of our members and their families,” yet the
bill contains nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts, including $156
billion in cuts to Medicare health plans affecting 14 million seniors, many
of whom are likely AARP members. In short, they have vocally supported a
proposal that would cut Medicare benefits, and I find that curious.
Why would an organization that has historically advocated
for our seniors aggressively support such a bill? This week, I put that
question – and many more – into writing. I am concerned about the cuts to
Medicare, and that our seniors may be left without the care they need and
deserve. From where I sit, there appears to be a direct conflict of interest
between AARP’s advocacy for legislation that slashes the Medicare Advantage
program – in which millions of seniors participate – and the sale of
AARP-sponsored Medigap plans.
This week the House Republican Conference
released a study about this very topic. “A review of its financial
statements finds that in 2008, AARP received more than half a billion dollars
in revenue from selling products like Medigap supplemental insurance
policies-$652.7 million in direct “royalties and fees,” and an increase of more
than 31 percent from the $497.6 million in similar revenue AARP generated in
2007.”
Has AARP lost sight of its mission? Is it now only acting to
preserve its own interests? I intend to find out.