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sorry this is long, but it is from a member only board. sorry also if this is a dupe.
AARP Faces Rebellion Within on Medicare
2 hours, 51 minutes ago
By MARTIN FINUCANE, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON - Senior citizens angry over the AARP's endorsement of the Medicare
bill are ripping up or burning their AARP membership cards and flooding the
lobbying group's Internet message board with complaints in what could be the
biggest revolt in its ranks since the 1980s.
Many fear the Republican-backed bill approved by Congress on Tuesday will
harm senior citizens, and they say the AARP ‹ the nation's most influential
retiree lobby, with 35 million members ‹ sold them out.
The bill "destroys one of the most successful programs in the history of
this country," Isaac Ben Ezra, president of the Massachusetts Senior Action
Council, said as he led a demonstration of about 40 people here against the
bill Monday. "Shame, AARP."
AARP chief executive William Novelli said Wednesday that between 10,000 and
15,000 members have quit over the bill.
John Rother, policy director at AARP, said the bill was not perfect, but it
was a step forward, and the organization will continue to try to improve the
law.
"We were either going to get something now or else it wasn't going to happen
for many, many years to come," he said.
The law, pushed by President Bush (news - web sites), is the biggest change
in Medicare since its creation in 1965, and includes a new prescription drug
benefit for 40 million older and disabled Americans. Supporters say it was
long overdue; detractors say it was a giveaway to insurers and drug
companies.
The law sets up competition between traditional Medicare and private plans,
beginning in 2010. Activists worry that could lead to the privatization of
Medicare and place the elderly in the hands of "insurance sharks" more
concerned about profits than quality medical care. Elderly people have also
questioned the AARP's motives, because it has a for-profit arm that earns
royalties from the sale of health insurance.
AARP endorsed the plan about a week ago as it headed toward congressional
approval. AARP's support was welcomed by Republicans and immediately
criticized by the Democrats, who predicted a revolt within the 45-year-old
organization.
"It's a firestorm out there. I am absolutely convinced that on this issue
AARP doesn't speak for their membership," said Edward Coyle, executive
director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, which represents more than 3
million retirees.
The dispute could open a generational rift in the AARP: Many of the angriest
protests have come from the elderly, at a time when the AARP is aggressively
recruiting baby boomers before they reach their golden years.
Novelli said the AARP had conducted extensive research that showed younger
members were more likely to support aspects of the Medicare bill, and he
said that played a role in the organization's decision to support it.
He speculated younger members are increasingly getting stuck paying the drug
bills of their parents, and that has made them more aware of skyrocketing
prices and more determined to do something about the problem.
And he said younger members are more comfortable than older ones with the
competition the bill provides for ‹ largely because they are accustomed to
getting their benefits from private insurers.
One-third of the AARP's members are under 60.
In West Palm Beach, Fla., Sam Oser, a 77-year-old retiree, organized a
protest in his retirement community and burned his AARP card.
"The more we thought about the Republican plan ‹ the more we thought about
it, the angrier we got and we felt the AARP was really selling us out," he
said.
Julia Kayser, 76, of Easthampton, N.Y., the president of a local AARP
chapter, said that during a recent visit to a senior center, where she
serves lunch as a volunteer, she told people they ought to quit the AARP.
"A lot of people will not renew their membership when it comes due," said.
Card-burnings and protests were also reported in such places as Washington,
D.C., Webster Groves, Mo., and San Francisco.
"We don't think AARP in the least represents seniors on this issue," said
Bruce Livingston, executive director of Senior Action Network in the San
Francisco area. "We're going to encourage people to quit. This is just the
beginning."
Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at
Harvard, said he had looked at polls on whether the elderly supported the
bill, and predicted there would be discontent among AARP members.
He said it would be difficult to explain to the elderly why it was
politically expedient to support the new bill. "They just can't understand
why you have to settle for a half a bagel here, with a hole in the middle,"
he said.
This is not the first time AARP has seen a rebellion among its members.
AARP supported a sweeping Medicare insurance program for catastrophic
illness in 1988 despite an outcry from many older Americans, including AARP
members, who were angry at having to pay a surtax for mandatory coverage
that some did not want or need. The law was repealed in 1989.
At one point, House Ways and Means chairman Rep. Dan Rostenkowski,
D-Illinois, was chased down a Chicago street by a group of elderly people
opposed to the bill after he refused to discuss it with them.
The AARP was also embarrassed in the early 1990s when it initially seemed to
support the Clinton administration's health reform plan, despite a poll in
its own magazine that found that members were overwhelmingly against it.
AARP ended up applauding, rather than endorsing, the plan.
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