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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

AARP sells out seniors, and in the UK: no surgery for you!

No wonder the AARP endorsed the plan. Follow the money! Here's what the American Family Association says about AARP's endorsement:
"PelosiCare will also cut Medicare Advantage by $170 billion. Medicare Advantage allows seniors to purchase private insurance with their Medicare payments, but these cuts will drive many of these seniors into inferior Medigap plans.

"AARP has a vested interest in seniors being driven out of Medicare Advantage into Medigap plans because AARP makes a fortune in royalty fees from Medigap plans. More than one-half of its $1.1 billion budget comes from such royalty fees, and Medigap plans make up the biggest share of this royalty revenue by far."
Read the complete article.
AARP sold seniors down the river for their bottom line. When health care rationing is instituted and seniors can't get hip and knee replacements because they're "too old" or they have to wait in line for months or even years to qualify what will AARP do for them?

Won't happen, you say? It already is under the UK socialized medicine debacle. Three surgeons in Letterkenny, Ireland recently blew the whistle on how they are sitting around doing nothing (and earning about $300,000 a year to do it) because the national health service is out of money. They are conserving by canceling all "elective" surgeries which includes hip and knee replacements which disproportionately affects older people. Welcome to health care rationing. "Take the pain pills, pal, no surgery for you!"

2 comments:

  1. Not that I support what AARP is doing, but how is it that you consider Medigap Plans to be inferior over Medicare Advantage plans? Medicare Advantage Plans are state-specific based on network care. If someone lives in Missouri and they want to get a second opinion from either the Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic, under the Medicare Advantage Plan that person doesn't have that freedom without penalty. They must get a referral.

    Medicare Advantage Plans offer lower premiums and lump in Part A, B and D, but it doesn't cover co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles like a Medigap Plan does. A senior choosing a Medigap Plan F doesn't see a bill from a hospital or doctor for any medically necessary treatment, and they have the ability to visit any doctor or hospital in the country - along with havinig portability.

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  2. Thanks for the informative comment.

    That quote was from the article. I don't really know much about either Medicare Advantage or Medigap, although in a few years (If they haven't dissolved in bankruptcy) I'll need to find out.

    But the real point of the post was AARP's conflict of interest and the fact that they financially benefit from items in the bill. So are they concerned about seniors or filling their treasure chest?

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