Seniors – Beware the AARP’s Support of ObamaCare

Family Security Matters ^ | July 31, 2009 | Natalie Sirkin

[Ooh-Ah]

Seniors beware! The AARP, claiming to represent you, is supporting the Obama Health Reform bill which is financed on your back.

 

Obama maintains that overall the changes in health-care are helpful to seniors and will save them thousands of dollars. Not so. Seniors are the big losers under ObamaCare according to Betsy McCaughey, the expert who has studied all the congressional bills. In an attempt to make the cost deficit-neutral, which Obama declares is the goal, $500-$550 billion is to be taken away from Medicare spending, this at a time when approximately 75,000,000 Americans will be added to Medicare rosters as the baby boom generation ages.

 

ObamaCare will squeeze funds from Medicare by cutting payments to doctors, nurses, hospitals and drug companies. The result will be fewer doctors willing to take Medicare patients, i.e. to work for a fraction of their legitimate fees. Seniors will be herded into groups, which will receive slower, less personal and less consistent care from doctors and other health care providers. There will be less money for the medical devices that minimize the handicaps of disability.

 

For starters, ObamaCare proposes that seniors shift from use of specialists to primary-care doctors, on the misconception that the elderly overuse specialists. Betsy McCaughey reports that studies have shown that for heart patients, a shift to primary care results in a higher death rate. Primary-care physicians frequently misdiagnose heart patients, who are more often readmitted to the hospital. The patients not treated by specialists die sooner.

 

House Bill 3200 mandates that each senior meet every five years with a consultant in advanced care planning who will help in planning for end of each senior’s life. Some of this is reasonable – it is wise to have health care proxies

and living wills – but on p. 427, lines 15-24, the government mandates end-of-life orders which can in effect make the government your proxy on end-of-life decisions. Gullible seniors, many of whom may be all too easily influenced by a government representative supposedly advancing their interests, are likely to sign off on agreements they don’t understand in “governmentalese,” the only language in the world that cannot be translated.

 

Those Obama has put in charge of medical planning for seniors should fill them with terror. There’s Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s brother, who has been appointed to two key posts: health policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and member of the Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research. McCaughey points out that in recent articles Emanuel has explicitly promoted discrimination against older patients. It’s not invidious discrimination (like discrimination based on race or gender), says Emanuel, because everyone was 25 once. On this reasoning, all the hard won rules against discrimination on the basis of age go out the window. Tough luck, if you’ve turned 65. Emanuel has also written that he wants doctors to consider not just the medical needs of his patient, but “social justice.” That’s shorthand for whether the money spent on the patient before him could be better spent on someone else, e.g., someone younger or less disabled. For example, those with dementia, writes Emanuel, are no longer contributing to society.

 

As for that Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research, as an Investor’s Business Daily editorial notes, it’s modeled on a similar board in England that approves or rejects treatments by dividing the cost of treatment by the number of additional years the patient is expected to live. Sample decision: the English board requires that elderly patients with macular degeneration

wait until they are blind in one eye before they can get the costly new drug that can save the other eye. Presumably the Council will decide if it is an “efficient’ investment to permit expensive surgery for elderly patients. A hip replacement if you’re 80? How about Tylenol?  

 

There are now bills in both House (HR3200) and Senate that would shift control over Medicare payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers from Congress to the President. Reimbursement rates would be set by an “independent commission,” i.e. an unelected executive agency, which the President would then approve or disapprove. The idea is to insulate Medicare from the pressures – to which politicians have to respond – and that will be sure to flow from outraged doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and seniors.

 

Even wiping out the access of seniors to many of the medical advances that have made their lives productive and comfortable will not make Obama’s health care revolution “cost-free.” Douglas Elmendorf, head of the Congressional Budget Office, to the discomfiture of the White House, asserted that government can’t “save” money on health-care by insuring everyone. The cost will be from $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion over ten years. Elmendorf was invited to the White House for a meeting with President Obama and a phalanx of economic and health-care advisers. Perhaps intimidated, Elmendorf has since issued a supplementary more equivocal statement. Former CBO head, Douglas Holtz-Eakin observed: “They’re leaning on him. CBO was created to do independent analyses for Congress.” 

 

How can an organization representing seniors possibly endorse legislation whose chief victims will be seniors? In backing ObamaCare, the AARP is derelict and deceptive to boot. A trip to its website will give seniors zero information on this legislation, so central to their future welfare – it won’t even tell them the AARP supports it. All there is on ObamaCare is a video of a question and answer session the AARP organized in which Obama reassures seniors that they will come to no harm under his plan and be subject to no rationing of care. Otherwise the website is full of information on discounts available to AARP members, what foods are good for you, profiles of interesting senior citizens, what drug plan is good for you, etc. What makes AARP’s dereliction of duty in failing to provide its members with the most elementary information on Obama’s health care proposals doubly shameful is that there are no other organizations representing seniors: AARP holds a monopoly.

 

Given its true mission (AARP powers-that-be never saw a proposal for or toward nationalization of health care they did not like), seniors must both put pressure on the AARP to represent their interests in fact, not in rhetoric, and until (if ever) that goal is achieved, make their views heard so as to prevent the AARP from being viewed as the undisputed voice of seniors in this country.

 

Seniors who want their voices to be heard on this important matter should be deluging their legislators and AARP as well. Send the organization “unsubscribe” notes. Write to AARP, 601 E Street N.W., Washington D.C. 20049. You can list friends and relatives who agree with you. If you prefer to phone (it can’t hurt to both write and phone), unfortunately AARP has pretty well insulated itself from public complaints. Still, you can call 1-888-AARP and if you are patient through its complicated menu, can get a representative (at a call center in Nevada or California). Voice your opinion. Word will get back. There is also a direct phone number to the AARP Foundation in Washington D.C. 1-203-434-6200.  

 

Be heard – before it is too late.

 

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Natalie Sirkin, a senior citizen, has for many years written a regular column for the Citizen News of Sherman, Connecticut.

[Frantzie]

AARP will send seniors to the death camps. AARP will fool (lie) them like Obama fooled many of them.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Beware the AARP.

There, fixed it.

[JudgemAll]

When a thief keeps stealing, freeloading off a neighbor, it’s a repeat offender felon aka “socialist”. And a communist is a job and business thief. Let us call things by what they are.

No one should go through getting medical care on the condition of mandatorily participating in thievery with a bigger thief. This is blackmail “gypsy” like captivity trickery.

The result is invariable exploitation of those virtualy forced to steal for care by being told to get the meds the government corrupt way or get shot.

To say care goes down the drain as a result is an understatement.

[fatnotlazy]

I belonged to AARP once...not anymore. That entitlement attitude sunk it for me. I understand that the membership has declined in recent years; so I doubt the organization represents that many seniors.

[Salvation]

[TBP]

If oyu hve an AARP card, cut it up and send it to them — and tell them why.

[dancusa]

AARP sends me their card every month to join. I send the letter back to them. I always write that I want nothing to do with a socialist organization. Maybe next time I will wrap a 20 lb rock with my Foxtrot Uniform letter. Postage due of course.

[ASOC]

Never joined, they have been shills for the insurace comapnies for years. They gave up trying to push senior issues years before that..

[DakotaRed]

Shouldn’t it be, “Seniors, beware YOUR support for AARP?”

[Jeff Gordon]

AARP is a seller of insurance. Nothing more.

[CaliforniaCon]

I have a health insurance policy underwritten by Aetna, in conjunction with AARP. AARP brings in the applicants and Aetna underwrites — allowing for some of the health conditions, and meds, that plague those over 50. The policies are for people from 50 thru 64 and cover those who are considered pre-Medicare.

Initially, joining AARP was a MUST to be considered for this policy. But after over a year I am so sick of the leftist blather from AARP that I inquired of Aetna whether or not I needed to maintain AARP membership to keep my policy going.

I just heard today from the Aetna executive office and the answer is that I do NOT have to remain a member to maintain my policy. That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!

[yorkie01]

I left AARP a few years back and sent a letter stating that they’d vacated their raison d’être, becoming nothing more than a leftist, money grubbing propagandist machine. The American Medical Association, AMA, whose membership, approximately 17% of all doctors in the USA as suggested by a doctor who left the organization, fits the same mold and both are heavily touted as supporters of zero’s josef mengele healthcare system. Caveat emptor!

[Gorzaloon]

AARP is a seller of insurance. Nothing more.

Except being a gold mine of a Sucker List, all of prequalified people percieved as being naive, trusting, and gullible.

The most scathing indictment is they sell United Healthcare. When shopping for coverage I polled pateints, nurses, doctors and pharmacists. The mention of that one produced tsunamis of profanity. I was told they MIGHT pay claims on the steps of the courthouse.

I also compared AARP's offers of life insurance with SBLI.

This is why their membership fees are so cheap. Their mailing list is worth a fortune.

[shibumi]

"The most scathing indictment is they sell United Healthcare. When shopping for coverage I polled pateints, nurses, doctors and pharmacists. The mention of that one produced tsunamis of profanity. I was told they MIGHT pay claims on the steps of the courthouse."

Five years ago, my company switched from United to BC/BS.

Maybe my experience is unique, but I found the coverage, follow-up, preventive care (at no additional cost) and the prompt payment of claims to be vastly superior under United Healthcare. (In both cases I took the PPO option rather than the HMO.)

During the period of time I was covered (about 7 years) I had two major hospitalizations, a myriad of tests and follow ups and I actually felt quite well cared for under United.

[algernonpj]

I don’t know if this would apply where you live, but I just spent a lot of time doing research for someone. I used http://www.medicare.gov/default.asp.

It was time consuming, and it’s not the most user friendly site, but I found out they got much better coverage and lower rates using a company other than Aetna.

Send me an eMail if you would like more specific info.

[algernonpj]

Maybe it’s either company or state specific. I, and friends have found the PPO under BC/BS (in NJ and through a few different companies) really good regarding coverage, follow-up, preventive care (at no additional cost) and the prompt payment of claims.

When researching medicare for someone in NJ, I found BC/BS offered the best coverage through their HMO and Medigap plans.

[AnAmericanMother]

I have to tell you that I've had United Healthcare for about 5 years, and it's better than the policy I had before.

There have been a few bugs in the system and a few claims that went astray, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a couple of letters.

[Gorzaloon]

That is two reports on the heels of each other that like the place.

Perhaps they cleaned up their act since I did my survey. That was a couple of years ago, now.

However, unfavorable reports still abound.

Granted there is a "squeaky Wheel" effect, where we only hear about the bad things, and this would be true of any provider or business, yet search engines still yeild:

Results 1 - 10 of about 785,000 for "United Healthcare sucks"

[Graybeard58]

Results 1 - 10 of about 785,000 for "United Healthcare sucks"

The last part of that bears repeating.

United Healthcare sucks.

[AnAmericanMother]

I'm not sure that mere results on Google amount to anything.

Any more than that idiot Gibbs makes any headway by claiming that the economy is better because there are fewer hits on "economic depression".

United is a long way from perfect, I have boxed a couple of rounds with them. But if you make enough noise, you can get what you need. We've had a couple of big health care issues recently, and they've paid up fairly promptly.

[ladyjane]

It has already started.

No swine flu shots for the elderly.

If you’re over 60 you won’t get one. They only made 160 million doses and young people and health care workers will be getting the shots.

[curth]

Buzz this story up at Yahoo buzz:

http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:24521eb2694199997eb9f20378f2b4ad:00366bff97b475f5fe2a75bf3f885edf/Exclusive-Seniors—Beware-the-AARPs-Support-of-ObamaCare?usc=1

[Jeff Gordon]

This is why their membership fees are so cheap.

I was not aware that they charged for membership. I started getting membership cards in the mail when I turned 50. As I approached age 65 they really started to stuff my mail box. All mail from AARP has been going going directly from my mail box to the recycling box for over a decade.

[dalereed]

Anyone that joins AARP is a useless eater!!!!

[Jeffrey_D.]

Check this out . . . .

http://em.mansellgroup.net/aarpf2f/msg/webletter073109.html