Healthcare Advocacy - Look Out - AARP Looks Out for AARP

December 30, 2022

Dec 30, 2022

Good Day Healthcare Advocates

First Happy New Year to all of you. I will be taking a brief pause and will resume on January 3rd, 2023.

Every day that we learn, grow and advocate for better healthcare for all of us is a good day. Thank you also to all of you advocates who have recently subscribed.

If there are specific healthcare topics you’d like to see addressed please send me a comment using the comment button. Thank you to those who have suggested topics, like Medicare reimbursement levels and sufficient access to care in a timely fashion. I will write about them in upcoming issues.

Mission

The Healthcare delivery system in the United States is a patchwork that leaves much to be desired. It is the most expensive system among the top 35 industrial countries and covers far fewer participants delivering lower levels of quality care than many of our peer nations. This blog will provide:

Current problems in healthcare
Actions you can take
References.

Current State of Affairs – LOOK OUT!! AARP Looks Out for AARP

Todays’ note is more of a “Caveat Emptor” or buyer beware. There is an organization in the US called the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). From their mission statement they are the largest (38M members) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people to choose how they live as they age (50 +). AARP is a nonprofit but operates as a profit making venture.

While they do provide important services, such as lobbying for seniors’ interests, their financial interest in the sale of recommended products to seniors makes their activities suspect. That is, it becomes hard to believe that they are operating in the best interest of their members.

in 2020 AARP earned just over $1B in royalties, more than three times what they took in as dues from members. About $752M earned was for health products and services. There are no details provided but they do earn 4.95% on each recommended medicare policy sold.

A quick look at the AARP website under member benefits (https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/insurance/) lists a variety of types of medicare insurance available. These include Medicare Advantage, Medi-gap, and prescription plans. All of these “AARP-vetted” policies are offered by United Healthcare. United Healthcare is one of the top two largest healthcare companies. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against United Healthcare for overcharging the government to the tune of more than $1B on its Medicare Advantage Plans mostly by upcoding patients to appear sicker than they are (see Dec, 29, 2022 Healthcare Advocacy). Worth noting that the AARP/United Healthcare prescription plan uses OptumRx, one of the largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and has very high premiums compared to competitive policies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

AARP recently got involved in recommending doctors to members. In September of 2022 AARP agreed to promote Oak Street Health, which has more than 100 primary care facilities in several states. Oak Street Health is a publicly traded company heavily funded by 6 equity firms. Shortly after the AARP arrangement was announced Oak Street revealed that it is the subject of a federal investigation into filing false claims to the government. The fees for AARPs recommendation were not disclosed. Remember when for profit companies deliver health care they tend to put money ahead of the patient.

AARP has been sued by members who thought that because a policy was AARP approved it was in their best interest and that rates were negotiated for members. Nowhere is the 4.95% commission described. Sadly these suits are frequently dismissed because the courts have ruled that being a member in an organization does not mean that the organization has a duty or responsibility to protect you (fiduciary). Your relationship to AARP is a business relationship. You can read it here. https://commitmenttoseniors.org/aarp-says-its-relationship-with-members-not-one-of-trust-or-confidence/

Essentially being a member of AARP means that to them you are just a customer. They may not be looking out for your interests. They are being paid to sell products to you.

What can we do? Apparently not trust AARP blindly. A lot of people trust someone, buy a healthcare policy and then suffer buyer’s remorse when they have found that what they bought isn’t what they needed.

What would work far better at filling the gaps in Medicare would be a Universal Healthcare program in the US that covers everyone. No more sneaky commissions, opaque rules about what is and isn’t covered, open-ended copays etc. etc. etc. WE DESERVE THIS NOW.

What You Can Do - Call your Representatives on or after January 3rd, 2023

See resources below for your senator/representative

You can call or email your Senators and Representative and say

My name is _________, I am a constituent and live in zipcode ________.

We can all agree that we need better quality, lower cost, transparent healthcare for everyone. A universal health plan could provide better coverage for everyone at far lower cost.

I would like you to support adoption of universal healthcare, like the 117th Congress HR1976. It covers everyone transparently, at lower cost, has no copays or deductibles and greatly expands rural healthcare. We need you to do this.