|
Page 1 of 2
  AARP's Tradition of Betrayal
Founded in 1958 for aged 50 and older Americans, AARP call itself "a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization (dedicated to) improv(ing) the quality of their lives," even though from inception it sold insurance to earn royalties - now to its 40 million members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands while claiming a mandate to: -- deliver "value to members through information, advocacy and service;"
-- work "tirelessly to fulfill its vision: a society in which everyone ages with dignity and purpose, and in which AARP helps people fulfill their goals and dreams;" and
-- speak "with one voice - united by a common motto: 'To serve, not be served." -- AARP Foundation focusing on "education....service, (and) legal advocacy efforts;"
-- AARP Services, providing "marketplace access to services that people need and want" related to "health and financial products, travel and leisure offerings, and life event services;"
-- AARP Financial, Inc. providing "financial advice and education, and managed AARP-endorsed financial and insurance products," that include health care and other insurance as well as equity, bond and money market mutual funds sold to members;
-- AARP Global Network of "likeminded, nonpartisan, national organizations (in five countries) working to meet the needs of older adults around the world;" and
-- NRTA: AARP's Educator Community (formerly the National Retired Teachers Association) comprised mainly of "educators and school personnel dedicated to educational opportunities, advocacy, and service." Nonprofit in name only, "AARP is the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company, employing a staff of 2,419 employees, (incurring) $1.16 billion in operating expenses and overseeing annual revenues (well above) $1 billion," around 60% of which comes from so-called Medigap supplemental insurance sales. According to Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), "Some of these products are total rip offs," so bad, in fact, that AARP was forced to withdraw its Essential Health Insurance Plan and Essential Plus Health Insurance Plan, developed by United Health Group and sold to 44,000 of its members. PNHP calls AARP "part of the problem and not part of the solution. It is nothing but an insurance (and financial) broker disguised as an advocacy group - and they will never take on the health insurance industry. (It) represent(s) the insurance industry (and its own self-interest) rather than (its members and) the public welfare in discussions about health reform." As a result, it's largely profit-driven offering 17 types of insurance reaping hundreds of millions annually in royalties. Millions more from selling drugs; other products and services including mutual funds; plus federal subsidies exceeding $80 million annually; and annual membership dues of $16 per year, $43 for three years, or $63 for five x 40 million members. It's also active on Capitol Hill with a 50-person staff and a 2008 $28 million lobbying budget, much like major corporations and for the same purpose - profits at the expense of member interests, unaware how they're ill-served by an organization claiming to be their advocate. AARP's Role in Enacting the Controversial Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 - the So-Called Part D Costing tens of billions annually, passage came only after initially being defeated, followed by a three hour all-night suspending of proceedings to exert pressure and offer bribes because passage assured PhRMA big profits at the expense of seniors extorted top dollar for prescription drugs, not the substantial savings government-negotiated prices would have delivered. Yet AARP was one of its staunchest advocates. In an email later revealed, the organization's associate executive policy director, Chris Hansen (a former aerospace lobbyist), assured Bush deputy assistant to the president, Barry Jackson, that he was on board with only minor issues to resolve. He said: "We know that there may be details that we will message differently but we are together on the big goal." At the time, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich explained that AARP's CEO, Bill Novelli, had "a long history of supporting individual responsibility in health care and doesn't want seniors dependent on government handouts." Novelli, in fact, invited Gingrich to join an advisory panel to discuss AARP future strategies, including insurance and other products and services it might sell. He also endorsed Gingrich's book, "Saving Lives and Saving Money" by writing in its forward: "Gingrich's (marketplace medicine) ideas are influencing how we at AARP are thinking about our national role" in the health care debate. Whether or not "one agrees (with his) policies, the book has interesting and important ideas about transforming the American health care system" to assure it remains a private for-profit system, not one run by Washington. Novelli also expressed concern about "how (Medicare) is financed and operated," the program AARP opposed in the 1960s, after which it supported the major 1988 Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act expansion, aligned with the Republican-controlled Congress in 1995 on health issues, backed the 1997 Medicare Reform Act that let recipients choose between private health insurance plans, and was comfortable with a free-market approach after Novelli became CEO in June 2001. His background foretold his advocacy. His November Group initiative for Richard Nixon helped devise attack ads against George McGovern in 1972. In the 1980s, his Porter-Novelli PR firm helped the drug industry. When he left in 1990, his clients included Bristol-Myers, Ciba-Geigy, Hoffman-La Roche, SmithKline Beecham, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.
|
Commentary 
