Move On message about AARP-Medicareless

[Renew Deal]

Dear MoveOn member,

For years, Democratic lawmakers have been working to make sure that
seniors have access to prescription drugs and reasonable healthcare.
Now, in an attempt to score political points, the Republican
Congressional leadership is pushing through a bill that appears to
offer a solution. Actually, the bill undermines the entire Medicare
program, pushing people into the very HMOs which contribute heavily to
Republican lawmakers and barring the government from negotiating for
lower drug prices.

Given the danger to seniors, one might expect that the millions-strong
American Association of Retired People (AARP) to be on the case.
But after huge contributions from pharmaceutical companies and HMOs,
and pressure from Republican lawmakers, the AARP is selling out its
membership and backing the bill.

In response, 85 members of Congress (so far) have canceled their AARP
memberships, or announced that they will never join (if they're not
yet old enough to be eligible). <1> Today, we urge you to do the
same. If the AARP won't stand up for the elderly when it comes to
health care, what good is it? You can reach the AARP at:

NY Branch: 212-758-1411
National hotline: [phone]

If you're a member, tell them you're quitting.

If you're too young to be eligible, tell them you'll never join.

You also may want to let your Representative and Senators know that
you're keeping the AARP accountable. You could also tell them
that you expect them to demand real health care reform -- not this
industry-backed bill.

You can reach your members of Congress at:

Bleachers edit: www.congress.org

Senator Charles E. Schumer
DC Phone: [phone]

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
DC Phone: [phone]


Please let us know how you feel about this -- we're collecting
individual comments to share with the media, at:

http://moveon.org/aarp.html?id=2136-3291635-it2DXATKoArSyiWDn0tNqQ

The AARP has endorsed a bill that would make two fundamental changes
in Medicare:

1. First, it would force people to make a stark choice: either pay
sharply increased premiums to stay in traditional Medicare, where
they can choose their doctor; or be forced out, into an HMO.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Republican leader, said in 1995
that he wanted to let Medicare to "wither on the vine." This
change would lead to that result, with cost incentives driving
people out. (Not coincidentally, AARP CEO William Novelli
recently wrote the forward to Gingrich's book. <2>)

2. Second, it offers a prescription drug benefit, but requires people
who want this coverage to buy it from private insurance plans.

This part of the bill also bars the government from doing the one
thing it could do to actually reduce the cost of these drugs --
negotiate for lower prices, using the size of the Medicare program
as leverage. Drug prices are soaring now, and unless they're
brought under control, they will eventually bankrupt Medicare.

AARP itself sells insurance and also sells prescription drugs, so
the group stands to reap huge financial gains from this change.

The bill has been opposed by a host of liberal groups <3> as well as
by major conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, The
Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, The Cato
Institute, and the National Taxpayers Union. It's also been assailed
by virtually every one of the Democratic presidential candidates. <4>

In endorsing this bill, the AARP has broken faith with its members. In
a recent poll, 65% of AARP members said they're opposed to it. <5>
The group has also violated its own written principles. In July, CEO
William Novelli wrote to Congress stating the requirements for AARP's
support of a Medicare bill. <6> Yet the bill AARP has just endorsed
fails to meet nine separate requirements stated in that letter. <7>

We need to hold the AARP responsible for selling out its members. If
the organization sees sufficient backlash from its members and
prospective members, it could still change course and effect the
outcome of this legislation. Please call your local AARP branch
today.

Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
November 20th, 2003

-----

<1> 85 Representatives wrote to Novelli, canceling their memberships:
http://www.moveon.org/HouseAARPletter.pdf

<2> From the foreword by Novelli to Gingrich's new book, "Saving Lives
and Saving Dollars".

<3> See http://www.moveon.org/medicare.html for a complete list of
organizations.

<4> See:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54358-2003Nov17.html

<5> Poll: a majority of AARP members oppose the Medicare bill:
http://www.moveon.org/Medicaresurveypr.pdf

<6> AARP July letter on minimum acceptable standards
http://www.aarp.org/Articles/a2003-08-18-drugbenefitinmedicare.html

<7> How AARP goes back on its word
http://www.house.gov/schakowsky/Document_AARP_Priorities_11_17_03.html

<8> http://www.aarp.org/leadership/Articles/a2002-12-18-aarpfactsheet.html

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[neuvocat]

1. Here's what I wrote to the AARP:

I will never become a member of your organization. What was supposed to be an advocacy group for our nation's elderly has instead become a sellout.

It is fortunate for you that my parents are deceased because if they still were alive, you would have to explain to them both why you have suddenly become a corporate special interest group.

[jbfam4]

2. I posted this earlier

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63594-2003Nov19.html

this is an excellent article by Broder and Goldstein about how long the GOP have been courting AARP.

85 % of AARP members don't approve....good read too.

[goddess40]

3. My mothers letter to AARP

This was sent along with her cut up card.

Sir:

As promised in my phone call and email to your office I am canceling my AARP membership. Your support of the horrific Medicare Prescription bill shows you are now in the pockets of big insurance companies and drug companies. You no longer care for or support senior citizens. You are in bed with Newt Gingrich who hopes Medicare “withers on the vine.” With your support it will surely do this.

I am a retired State employee and now pay $280 for excellent drug coverage. My drug bill per year exceeds $5000. With the Medicare bill you support I stand to pay close to $4000 per year. Also, this bill is the first step to privatization of Medicare and the loss of Medicare completely.

Your leadership has not taken the needs of the AARP membership into consideration. They are no better than the CEOs of Enron and Tyco.

I have been an AARP member since 1987 and have encouraged many others to join AARP. AARP is now an organization I can no longer support. I expect a full refund of my prepaid membership.

Angrily,

[schultzee]

4. Tell everyone to do the same, please. The corporate greed pigs.

I called them and I wrote to them and I just joined and I'll never join their filthy greed corportist pig organization.

[eridani]

5. You can post as a guest on AARP message boards

No registration required. Let them know what you think.

http://community.aarp.org/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=rp-legislative&gfc=1&sts=11%2F20%2F2003+6%3A14%3A45+PM




SENIORS OUTRAGED OVER PRESCRIPTION DRUG DEAL

As seniors read the fine print, the outrage grows over a prescription deal that undermines Medicare, keeps drug prices high, and pumps billions into the pockets of drug companies and HMOs. A grassroots movement led by the Alliance for Retired Americans , US Action , and countless other defenders of Medicare is growing.

Groups Opposed to the Deal:


Events Around the Country to Save Medicare This Year:


- HUNDREDS RALLY, US CAPITOL -
Wednesday: Hundreds from the Alliance for Retired Americans braved the rain at the US Capitol telling Congress: "Don't pass this lemon of a prescription deal!" Some then marched to AARP headquarters to burn their AARP cards. Sources say that Newt Gingrich was in the building at the time.

- NO ONE SHOWS AT HMO RALLY IN AZ -
This week: "Senior Voices for Medicare Choices," an HMO-funded sham senior group, tried their hand at a rally in AZ with a high-priced telecast of President Bush. Proving their empty suit status -- no one showed up.

- SENIORS ARRESTED IN AZ -
July & August: Seniors were arrested twice while trying to meet with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Kyl repeatedly refused to meet with seniors until they refused to leave his AZ office. Kyl finally agreed to a meeting, but only in DC. Seniors sold lemonade around Arizona to earn money for the trip.

- HARRIS INTIMIDATED BY SENIORS IN FL -
August: Seniors with the facts make Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) nervous. Falsely asserting that "Congressional rules" prohibit written materials in town hall meetings, Harris staff and securitiy confiscated written notes, questions, and fact-sheets from seniors; Harris then refused direct questions. Protest and ridicule by the media followed.

- HASTERT CALLS POLICE ON SENIORS IN IL -
July: Seniors tried to deliver House Speaker Hastert (R-IL) a letter in Batavia, IL. But for the first time ever, they weren't allowed in. Seniors had to pass their letter to Hastert through an apologetic police barricade. Gun-toting police in a nearby parking garage kept watch over the IL seniors.

Dozens of other events have already taken place in 27 states and the District of Columbia:


- In New York, NY -
11/11/03: Citizen Action of New York delivered sign on letters to Senators Clinton and Schumer urging them to do everything they can to stop the bad Medicare deal.

- In Des Moines, Iowa -
11/10/03: ICAN held a press conference to release a joint statement with 27 other organizations and to release the new Institute for America's Future report outlining the bad Medicare deal. ICAN called on Senator Durbin to oppose the deal. Three seniors spoke. After the press conference, ICAN delivered to Senator Durbin's office 300 handwritten letters asking Congress to "stop and start over."

- In Trenton, New Jersey -
11/10/03: New Jersey Citizen Action, seniors and people with disabilities, and representatives from United Seniors Alliance, HPAE Council of Retirees, State Federation of Teachers, and Alliance for Retired Americans held a press conference to demand that Senators Corzine and Lautenberg oppose the bad Medicare deal. The group also called on Governor McGreevey to urge Senators Corzine and Lautenberg to vote no on the Medicare prescription drug bill. When the event wasn't covered, the group camped out at the press row until they were interviewed for television, radio, and in local newspapers.

- In Charleston, West Virginia -
11/5/03: USAction's newest affiliate, West Virginia Citizen Action, spoke against the emerging bad Medicare deal at a press conference with Senator Rockefeller's office, WV AFL-CIO, and the WV Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. WVCA called on their Senators and Representatives to "Just Say No" to the bad Medicare deal. An article and supportive editorial appeared in the West Virginia Gazette, and the ABC and FOX TV affiliates aired stories.


-------------------------------------------------
Visit the Institute for America's Future for more on the Campaign for Prescription Drugs and the Fight to Save Medicare.

[DPG]

6. Outraged and disappointed in local AARP group

I will tell you about the anger toward AARP in our country's heartland, in the supposedly progressive Iowa City, Iowa, often called the "Athens of Iowa".

On Monday, Dec. 1st, the local AARP is holding a Gala Holiday Celebration. In their press release they included an invitation to people under 50 -- just like the AARP officials recently announced that the national intends to do.

Right after I canceled my AARP membership last week, I contacted the local AARP list to tell them what I had done and asked them about their position on AARP's support of the Medicare bill. Not one person on that list sent me any reply. Not one.

Today I saw the notice in the paper about the Gala AARP Celebration. I am angry about it but that's how the cookie is crumbling on the subject here in "Athens".