Joe Conason of Salon on AARP's endorsement of GOP Medicare bill...

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/11/21/medicare/index.html

Nov. 21, 2003  |  The good, the bad and the unethical
Voters wondering whether to support the Medicare "prescription drug benefit" and confused over its support from the American Association of Retired Persons should consult this analysis by Consumers Union. The venerable consumer organization has "reluctantly" concluded that the Republican bill now before Congress "not only falls embarrassingly short of giving seniors a real drug benefit, it likely will threaten Medicare's viability."

The C.U. researchers discovered four lethal flaws in the AARP-backed "compromise" bill: Its funding is inadequate; it moves toward privatization of Medicare, without any proof that private plans will be more efficient; it will empower private pharmacy benefit managers far more than drug consumers; and, "most important," it is likely to increase rather than reduce out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers.

C.U.'s analysts estimate that if this bill passes without cost controls, the average Medicare recipient who currently spends $2,318 a year for drugs (without coverage) will pay $2,911 out-of-pocket in 2007.

Why heed Consumers Union rather than AARP? The answer is quite simple. Unlike the ethically challenged leadership of AARP, Consumers Union has always avoided compromising commercial relationships.

Edited to add link for Consumer's Union analysis of GOP/AARP endorsed bill.

http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_health_care/000664.html

[Wonk]

1. kick

[Faygo Kid]

2. Goodbye, AARP

I'll send my money elsewhere, thank you.