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2003-11-26 -- AARP faces Rebellion in ranks over Medicare

"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."


Associated Press, Wednesday, November 26, 2003

AARP Faces Rebellion Within on Medicare

By MARTIN FINUCANE

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.

___

On the Net:

www.aarp.org