AARP backing away from public option?

Has the AARP thrown in the towel on the public option?  Raw Story reports that the senior-advocacy group now says that the government-run health insurance plan is not a priority for their support, mainly because most of their members already qualify for Medicare.  However, the group still doesn’t address the extensive Medicare cuts that threaten their members with reduced service:

The influential seniors group AARP said Tuesday it would be willing to endorse a health care bill without a public option of any kind.

“It’s not a priority for us,” said David Certner, Legislative Policy Director of AARP, in an interview with Raw Story. “We’re more concerned about prohibitions due to pre-existing conditions and cost spikes of up to 10 times for 60-64-year-old seniors.”

The AARP isn’t opposed to the public plan as it formally endorsed the House bill, which included it.

“Half of our members are already on a public option — it’s called Medicare,” Certner said. “So we understand its benefits.” But the group hasn’t taken a strong position on the contentious provision — partly, it seems, because of heated internal disputes over health reform, resulting in tens of thousands of members quitting since this summer.

But what about the report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services?  The AARP still hasn’t addressed the analysis from the administrators of Medicare that show that ObamaCare means significant reductions in services to seniors and the disabled, thanks to massive cuts that will fund the rest of the program.  As the Washington Post reported, the draconian cuts will likely push even more providers out of the Medicare market, making it much more difficult for seniors to get reliable and reasonable access to care.

Instead of addressing this, the AARP plans to continue its support for $500 billion in cuts to the program and reduced services for its members.  They plan to run another ad campaign to bolster public support for ObamaCare, which has dropped almost into fringe status over the last few weeks.  The ad, which you can watch at RS, features a “real doctor – spin doctor” setup purporting to debunk arguments by Medicare’s own administrators about higher costs and reduced services.

How will the AARP’s abandonment of the public plan affect the debate?  It could leave progressives in the Senate a little more isolated, and give moderates like Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche Lincoln more room to insist that it get dropped.  It will be a subtle change, not a gamebreaker, but don’t expect the hard Left to let AARP off the hook for this statement.

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