By Katharine Q. Seelye
A small but fractious rebellion is brewing against AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 AARP members have left the organization since July 1, a spokesman for the group said.
Many of the defectors have destroyed their AARP cards and are switching to a relatively new group called American Seniors Association, which bills itself as the conservative alternative to AARP.
The rebellion has erupted over the AARP’s support for overhauling the health care system. The A.S.A. strongly opposes what it calls “Obamacare,” while the AARP says it backs some of the president’s positions on overhauling the system but not all of them.
AARP emphasizes that 60,000 is a small percentage of its total membership of 40 million. And it says that during the same time period, 400,000 people joined AARP and 1.5 million renewed their memberships. (It typically loses 300,000 people a month because of their failure to renew their memberships or because of death.)
In explaining A.S.A.’s opposition to a health care overhaul, Stuart Barton, the group’s president, wrote on Monday that “a government-run plan would limit patient-doctor choice,” that “an employer mandate would kill jobs and lower wages,” and that a new plan would require higher taxes and Medicare cuts that hurts baby boomers and seniors.
The A.S.A. is appealing directly to disaffected AARP members, urging them to cut or tear up their AARP cards and join A.S.A. at a discount. It is also playing on the fears of many in the over-50 crowd who are worried that an overhaul will end up costing them money and lowering their quality of care.
A.S.A.’s Web site says: “A.S.A. is looking out for seniors by fighting a health care reform bill that will cost upward of $1.8 trillion over the next 10 years and cuts in Medicare of $500 billion. A.S.A. wants seniors to live longer, more fulfilling years of life — not an ‘end of life’ continuum that this bill suggests.”
(The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the overhaul would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, and the Senate Finance Committee, which may produce the major piece of health care legislation, has dropped end-of-life issues from its agenda.)
Jim Dau, a spokesman for AARP, said in an interview that while AARP took such rebellions seriously, it had endured them before. In 2003, it lost 70,000 to 80,000 members over its support for a Medicare prescription drug program. In 2005, the organization lost 8,000 to 10,000 members for opposing efforts to privatize Social Security.
“With a membership this big, there will be differences of opinion with our advocacy positions,” Mr. Dau said. “But history has born out that many of our members came back. We want to earn them back.”
He pegged the loss of members now in part to “misinformation” about the overhaul itself and about AARP’s positions. AARP is now posting fact-checks on its Web site.
President Obama may have been responsible for some of the confusion, Mr. Dau said, since the president implied recently that AARP had endorsed his position when it had not.
The White House has not offered a specific proposal, and the AARP has not endorsed any specific measure in Congress.
“We look forward to helping to build a comprehensive bill that we can endorse,” Mr. Dau said. [rc]
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
August 18, 2009
USA: A Mini-Mutiny at AARP Over Health Care
.
NEW YORK, NY / The New York Times / Health / Money & Policy / August 18, 2009
By Katharine Q. Seelye
A small but fractious rebellion is brewing against AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 AARP members have left the organization since July 1, a spokesman for the group said.
Many of the defectors have destroyed their AARP cards and are switching to a relatively new group called American Seniors Association, which bills itself as the conservative alternative to AARP.
The rebellion has erupted over the AARP’s support for overhauling the health care system. The A.S.A. strongly opposes what it calls “Obamacare,” while the AARP says it backs some of the president’s positions on overhauling the system but not all of them.
AARP emphasizes that 60,000 is a small percentage of its total membership of 40 million. And it says that during the same time period, 400,000 people joined AARP and 1.5 million renewed their memberships. (It typically loses 300,000 people a month because of their failure to renew their memberships or because of death.)
In explaining A.S.A.’s opposition to a health care overhaul, Stuart Barton, the group’s president, wrote on Monday that “a government-run plan would limit patient-doctor choice,” that “an employer mandate would kill jobs and lower wages,” and that a new plan would require higher taxes and Medicare cuts that hurts baby boomers and seniors.
The A.S.A. is appealing directly to disaffected AARP members, urging them to cut or tear up their AARP cards and join A.S.A. at a discount. It is also playing on the fears of many in the over-50 crowd who are worried that an overhaul will end up costing them money and lowering their quality of care.
A.S.A.’s Web site says: “A.S.A. is looking out for seniors by fighting a health care reform bill that will cost upward of $1.8 trillion over the next 10 years and cuts in Medicare of $500 billion. A.S.A. wants seniors to live longer, more fulfilling years of life — not an ‘end of life’ continuum that this bill suggests.”
(The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the overhaul would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, and the Senate Finance Committee, which may produce the major piece of health care legislation, has dropped end-of-life issues from its agenda.)
Jim Dau, a spokesman for AARP, said in an interview that while AARP took such rebellions seriously, it had endured them before. In 2003, it lost 70,000 to 80,000 members over its support for a Medicare prescription drug program. In 2005, the organization lost 8,000 to 10,000 members for opposing efforts to privatize Social Security.
“With a membership this big, there will be differences of opinion with our advocacy positions,” Mr. Dau said. “But history has born out that many of our members came back. We want to earn them back.”
He pegged the loss of members now in part to “misinformation” about the overhaul itself and about AARP’s positions. AARP is now posting fact-checks on its Web site.
President Obama may have been responsible for some of the confusion, Mr. Dau said, since the president implied recently that AARP had endorsed his position when it had not.
The White House has not offered a specific proposal, and the AARP has not endorsed any specific measure in Congress.
“We look forward to helping to build a comprehensive bill that we can endorse,” Mr. Dau said. [rc]
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Katharine Q. Seelye
A small but fractious rebellion is brewing against AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 AARP members have left the organization since July 1, a spokesman for the group said.
Many of the defectors have destroyed their AARP cards and are switching to a relatively new group called American Seniors Association, which bills itself as the conservative alternative to AARP.
The rebellion has erupted over the AARP’s support for overhauling the health care system. The A.S.A. strongly opposes what it calls “Obamacare,” while the AARP says it backs some of the president’s positions on overhauling the system but not all of them.
AARP emphasizes that 60,000 is a small percentage of its total membership of 40 million. And it says that during the same time period, 400,000 people joined AARP and 1.5 million renewed their memberships. (It typically loses 300,000 people a month because of their failure to renew their memberships or because of death.)
In explaining A.S.A.’s opposition to a health care overhaul, Stuart Barton, the group’s president, wrote on Monday that “a government-run plan would limit patient-doctor choice,” that “an employer mandate would kill jobs and lower wages,” and that a new plan would require higher taxes and Medicare cuts that hurts baby boomers and seniors.
The A.S.A. is appealing directly to disaffected AARP members, urging them to cut or tear up their AARP cards and join A.S.A. at a discount. It is also playing on the fears of many in the over-50 crowd who are worried that an overhaul will end up costing them money and lowering their quality of care.
A.S.A.’s Web site says: “A.S.A. is looking out for seniors by fighting a health care reform bill that will cost upward of $1.8 trillion over the next 10 years and cuts in Medicare of $500 billion. A.S.A. wants seniors to live longer, more fulfilling years of life — not an ‘end of life’ continuum that this bill suggests.”
(The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the overhaul would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, and the Senate Finance Committee, which may produce the major piece of health care legislation, has dropped end-of-life issues from its agenda.)
Jim Dau, a spokesman for AARP, said in an interview that while AARP took such rebellions seriously, it had endured them before. In 2003, it lost 70,000 to 80,000 members over its support for a Medicare prescription drug program. In 2005, the organization lost 8,000 to 10,000 members for opposing efforts to privatize Social Security.
“With a membership this big, there will be differences of opinion with our advocacy positions,” Mr. Dau said. “But history has born out that many of our members came back. We want to earn them back.”
He pegged the loss of members now in part to “misinformation” about the overhaul itself and about AARP’s positions. AARP is now posting fact-checks on its Web site.
President Obama may have been responsible for some of the confusion, Mr. Dau said, since the president implied recently that AARP had endorsed his position when it had not.
The White House has not offered a specific proposal, and the AARP has not endorsed any specific measure in Congress.
“We look forward to helping to build a comprehensive bill that we can endorse,” Mr. Dau said. [rc]
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
