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Politics has entered AARP. Swaying members to vote a certain way has corrupted them.
Happens to all good organizations after they grow big enough to have influence.
The Medicare cuts are primarily in the Advantage plan process. The Govt pays subsidies to private insurers to offer plans that meet a coverage level at least as comprehensive as Medicare. Many companies take advantage of that. The govt subsidy over compensates the ins. co. for the plan Medicare eligible people choose. Some, actually most, of those ins. cos. keep the subsidy and the Soc Sec recipient's $96/mnth. Making huge profits from the venture. Some of those ins. cos. are a little more responsible, and return the $96 to the Soc Sec recipient, yet still makes a large profit on the policy. Basically, it is well know that there are huge amounts of over payments to the ins. cos. That is where the bulk of the proposed Medicare cuts are to occur. Why do you think the ins. cos. are so opposed to reform in this area? Duh! Why do you think the Repubs, not just McCain, are so opposed to reform in this area? Duh! When you consider the number of people Medicare eligible, I would not be surprised if 400-500 billion could be cut out of just this portion of Medicare. And these cuts done without any degradation of the coverage.
Not every area has the same companies offering Advantage Plans, and if these subsidies are cut, then millions of seniors will be left with nothing but straight Medicare, which is very expensive if any kind of medical care is needed. Seniors pay an additional premium for their Advantage Plans, above and beyond the $96/month that is deducted from their SS check. For 2010, most will end up paying close to a total of $200 per month in premiums. Even at that there are areas where there is no choice of plans. Some insurance companies have already pulled out of regions they previously covered. IF there is no insurance company to offer an Advantage Plan, and there are no doctors that will accept Medicare patients, how do you figure that these cuts will not result in degradation of the coverage? That's faulty reasoning, or reasoning based on incomplete understanding of what is actually happening.
Obama has said he wants to ELIMINATE all Advantage Plans. So, what will be left? Plain Medicare, the public option, or AARP Supplemental insurance which will have no competition and typically costs $100-$200 more in premiums. That's why AARP is on board with Obamacare. It's AARP that stands to gain by forcing more people into their supplemental plans, and the Government stands to gain by having them move to a public option. You talk as though all seniors are rolling in bundles of money when in fact the bulk of them have just their social security to fall back on.
Not every area has the same companies offering Advantage Plans, and if these subsidies are cut, then millions of seniors will be left with nothing but straight Medicare, which is very expensive if any kind of medical care is needed. Seniors pay an additional premium for their Advantage Plans, above and beyond the $96/month that is deducted from their SS check. For 2010, most will end up paying close to a total of $200 per month in premiums. Even at that there are areas where there is no choice of plans. Some insurance companies have already pulled out of regions they previously covered. IF there is no insurance company to offer an Advantage Plan, and there are no doctors that will accept Medicare patients, how do you figure that these cuts will not result in degradation of the coverage? That's faulty reasoning, or reasoning based on incomplete understanding of what is actually happening.
Obama has said he wants to ELIMINATE all Advantage Plans. So, what will be left? Plain Medicare, the public option, or AARP Supplemental insurance which will have no competition and typically costs $100-$200 more in premiums. That's why AARP is on board with Obamacare. It's AARP that stands to gain by forcing more people into their supplemental plans, and the Government stands to gain by having them move to a public option. You talk as though all seniors are rolling in bundles of money when in fact the bulk of them have just their social security to fall back on.
Please check facts prior to saying things like this. Senior pay nothing additional for Advantage plans. There are extended coverage plans for drug needs, if the senior has those needs. Those will not change. It is very doubtful Advantage plans will go away, there is way too much profit available to private ins. cos. for that to happen. The Advantage plans are only slightly better than basic Medicare and very doubtful Doctors will not accept Medicare. Obama has stated the excessive subsidies need to be eliminated, and they do, but not Advantage plans.
I went there right after that fat CEO came out in favor of government run healthcare and it became very obvious that they are there for money alone for their programs. I much prefer the ASA since they ask for money but don't try to sell anything other than their support for seniors.
I had been a member of AARP for nearly 25 years but it wasn't hard to cut our ties.
I dropped my membership six months ago. Wrote a letter and let them know why.
They probably couldn't care less which is what is wrong with a lot of the big businesses today. I have a problem with Regions Bank and said when they are done investigating their mistake to cut me a cashiers check for whatever is in there. They couldn't care less.
My Aunt was in there and has a $300,000 CD in that bank and said to close it out. They were like monkeys with no tails on. How do you explain that one to the President of the Bank?
The Medicare cuts are primarily in the Advantage plan process. The Govt pays subsidies to private insurers to offer plans that meet a coverage level at least as comprehensive as Medicare. Many companies take advantage of that. The govt subsidy over compensates the ins. co. for the plan Medicare eligible people choose. Some, actually most, of those ins. cos. keep the subsidy and the Soc Sec recipient's $96/mnth. Making huge profits from the venture. Some of those ins. cos. are a little more responsible, and return the $96 to the Soc Sec recipient, yet still makes a large profit on the policy. Basically, it is well know that there are huge amounts of over payments to the ins. cos. That is where the bulk of the proposed Medicare cuts are to occur. Why do you think the ins. cos. are so opposed to reform in this area? Duh! Why do you think the Repubs, not just McCain, are so opposed to reform in this area? Duh! When you consider the number of people Medicare eligible, I would not be surprised if 400-500 billion could be cut out of just this portion of Medicare. And these cuts done without any degradation of the coverage.
bob, I think that $500 billion is to be cut over a 10 year period not all one year. How long have you been on Medicare? I have been for 12 years and I see how little they allow to be paid for some things and how much for some others. I don't think the bureaucrats that run it know much about medicine or hospitals but they do manage to do what they do, inflate the cost of health care, very well.
Everybody already knows that the insurance companies are more concerned with seniors' health issues than the AARP.
But AARP has become an insurance company over the last few years so how do you separate them from the companies?
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McCain calls on seniors to 'cut up their AARP cards'
