Video: The whydunit of AARP’s support for ObamaCare
posted at 1:36 pm on April 5, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Greg Hengler at Townhall puts together this stylized, noir-detective look at the “mystery” of AARP’s political support for ObamaCare. Call it The Mystery of the Senior Swindle if you will, or How To Make A Billion Dollars Without Really Trying. All you need to do is get Congress to create a market for you by swinging a lobbying hammer around Washington DC, and let the Democrats do your dirty work for you:
Interestingly, the Left erupted in outrage when GE’s tax breaks became public (and inaccurately reported by the New York Times). Where’s the outrage over AARP pushing a massive government expansion over the health-care market that puts a billion dollars into their pockets? Forget it, Jake; it’s Leftytown.
The Alliance for Retirement Prosperity warned about this back in November:
Because of the way Medicare is structured, seniors have to purchase an insurance policy that fills the gap between what Medicare covers and what it doesn’t. Bigger gap, less coverage; less coverage, greater need to purchase Medicare Supplemental insurance; greater need for Medicare Supplemental Insurance, bigger AARP profits.
For years, AARP made a fortune selling Medigap insurance to fill in those gaps. Then, Congress created Medicare Advantage, an alternative to the Medicare Supplemental Medigap policies sold by AARP. That cut into AARP’s Medigap business.
If ObamaCare is allowed to undermine Medicare Advantage plans, as the Congressional Budget Office confirms it will, AARP stands to benefit enormously as seniors are forced to return in droves to purchase AARP’s Medigap Supplemental plans.
There you have it. While no one can read the mind of AARP executives to know their motivations in joining forces with the White House to jam ObamaCare into law, the observable indicators are unambiguously clear: AARP appears to have betrayed its members to feather its own corporate nest.
If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Expect to hear more about this in the weeks ahead.









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Uh-Many of us knew this during the Health Care Debate.
Les in NC on April 5, 2011 at 1:42 PM
AARP disgusts me
blatantblue on April 5, 2011 at 1:42 PM
But, they promised…!
a capella on April 5, 2011 at 1:43 PM
Much more, I hope. Make it relentless.
And rescind its non-profit tax status, too.
petefrt on April 5, 2011 at 1:45 PM
Better not confront the AARP, they can have 100,000 oldsters marching in the streets within hours.
Bishop on April 5, 2011 at 1:45 PM
Crony capitalism writ large….
steveegg on April 5, 2011 at 1:46 PM
This story is not new; the facts have long been known.
novaculus on April 5, 2011 at 1:49 PM
Old news.
Tim_CA on April 5, 2011 at 1:52 PM
AARP can rot in he!! for all I care.
capejasmine on April 5, 2011 at 1:55 PM
Duh. Next they will uncover the reasons the AMA was in favor of ObamaCare. Can’t get anything by these crack investigative reporters.
txmomof6 on April 5, 2011 at 1:59 PM
Do what I do when you get that annoying junk mail from AARP.
Put all the contents back in their prepaid envelop and send it back to them.
After a while, they get the message and stop sending their junk… in the mail.
Kini on April 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM
This quote needs to be in this thread.
fossten on April 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM
Great video!
d1carter on April 5, 2011 at 2:03 PM
When we get any mail from aarp, that has a pre-paid envelope, we stuff it will junk mail(nothing with our name on it) and send it back to them on their dime. I really detest this group and hubby and I would not ever join their crud group.
L
letget on April 5, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Kini@2:02,
Gosh like minds, sorry didn’t see your post.
L
letget on April 5, 2011 at 2:06 PM
I’m shocked! SHOCKED, I tell you!
OK, not really.
iurockhead on April 5, 2011 at 2:10 PM
How about the old Abby Hoffman trick? Tape the return envelope to a brick, and in the mailbox it goes. Heh.
iurockhead on April 5, 2011 at 2:12 PM
Last time I did that, I pasted their envelope on a larger manila envelope and sealed a telephone book in it.
petefrt on April 5, 2011 at 2:13 PM
Kini on April 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM
That is good to know. My spouse joined AARP when he turned 50. We didn’t renew after a year, because it was nothing but garbage sent to us all the time. He just turned 55 and they are STILL sending us all that junk. They also must sell names and addresses to other organizations we get junk from too.
Aaargh!
JannyMae on April 5, 2011 at 2:14 PM
Billion dollar buy-off by the Obama Administration to secure AARP’s support. That’s how bad Obamacare is. Pitiful.
BruthaMan on April 5, 2011 at 2:14 PM
You mean they send you stuff even if you DON’T join?
Aargh! X two
JannyMae on April 5, 2011 at 2:15 PM
I love sending AARP’s mailers back empty. So they have to pay the postage.
Petty, I know. But satisfying.
Squiggy on April 5, 2011 at 2:16 PM
I do that too, but I put all my other junk mail in there as well. Stuff that sucker so it costs them more.
NJ Red on April 5, 2011 at 2:19 PM
JannyMae@2:15,
Oh yes they do! They have gotten smarter though, they have a pre-paid one page with the information on it, no envelope to stuff and send back to them.
L
letget on April 5, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Eggggcellent…!!
NJ Red on April 5, 2011 at 2:21 PM
[sarc alert]But AARP is a non-profit corporation!!![/sarc alert]
Has anyone done an analysis of the compensation paid to AARP directors and executives?
Ira on April 5, 2011 at 2:21 PM
I have to start doing this,too.
A guy on the local radio said he send washers in the envelopes.
Maybe I should send dried cow crap.
I have a lot of that in my ‘yard’.
Badger40 on April 5, 2011 at 2:22 PM
It’s because of AARP’s chief lobbyist to the White House… Count de Monnaie.
viking01 on April 5, 2011 at 2:25 PM
I just joined AMAC for one year to see what it’s all about. They say they are the conservative alternative to AARP.
Vince on April 5, 2011 at 2:43 PM
Vince on April 5, 2011 at 2:49 PM
Anti-
American
Ripoff
Profiteers
itsnotaboutme on April 5, 2011 at 2:50 PM
Vince on April 5, 2011 at 2:55 PM
If you like your plan you can keep… oh forget it.
SittingDeadRed on April 5, 2011 at 2:56 PM
Thanks, Vince.
Sweet deal for working, and not working, at a non-profit.
Ira on April 5, 2011 at 2:56 PM
I send AARP junk back also. I always write what I think of Obamacare and their support of it. I really like the idea of adding more weight, I shall do that next time. :-)
IowaWoman on April 5, 2011 at 3:35 PM
It’s a lot of work to pack bricks, it’s easier to just load up the envelope with enough to get it over one ounce, up to two or three. Do it a couple times a month, which is as often as I get their junkmail.
slickwillie2001 on April 5, 2011 at 3:40 PM
Don’t forget that this is the SECOND TIME that AARP has pursued major legislation which throws the financial interests of its “members” aside for its own financial and/or political gain!!!
Remember the original “Medicare B” plan of over a decade ago? Congress passed it because they were suckered into believing that seniors wanted it: it turned out that seniors were AGAINST it by a very wide margin!!! There was a revolt…AARP was widely cursed and discredited…and the bill was quickly repealed. The only faster repeal in my memory was the time Congress tried to interlock seatbelts with the ignition switch…creating a massive nationwide “interlock undo” industry overnight.
AARP is an “astroturf” senior advocacy group. If you examine what it says and what it does, you find that AARP is just an insurance company with a left-wing political arm masquerading as a representative of its members. AARP members actually have very little influence on the political positions being pushed by AARP. For decades, AARP has been laundering “dues” and turning them into political contributions to left-wing causes….many of which directly hurt seniors.
landlines on April 5, 2011 at 3:52 PM
Anyone in Congress who says they are “surprised” by this should be thrown out of office on their fat ass.
GarandFan on April 5, 2011 at 4:03 PM
Find a brick, wrap it in a brown paper grocery sack and tape it closed. Take the AARP prepaid mailer, stuff it with the stuff they sent you, seal it, and glue it to the outside of the package. THIS IS IMPORTANT: take it INSIDE the Post Office and hand it to the clerk, saying “The recipient will guarantee return postage.”
Works every time… and costs them a fortune…
Khun Joe on April 5, 2011 at 4:08 PM
Don’t count on it. AARP has their OWN ZIP CODE in DC.
darwin-t on April 5, 2011 at 4:21 PM
Actually, it’s the third time that I remember. They got into some hot water for supporting and promoting HillaryCare, too. I knew at that time that I would never join AARP.
kakypat on April 5, 2011 at 4:21 PM
It’s not just the fact that AARP is making huge money off Obamacare, but the fact that Obamacare cuts half a trillion dollars of spending from Medicare — so AARP lobbied hard for a program that significantly harms the interests of seniors (the only people on Medicare) so that it could profit at its own members’ expense.
It’s beyond despicable. Any senior giving their money to this fraudulent organization should be checked for senility immediately. AARP is not promoting the interests of senior citizens; it is directly working against them.
AZCoyote on April 5, 2011 at 4:38 PM
You’re right: I had forgotten the HillaryCare debacle…probably because AARP, Hillary, and the usual suspects got blown out of the water by early exposure before HillaryCare even got off the ground.
landlines on April 5, 2011 at 11:34 PM
Thirty pieces of silver. Some folks denigrate the Bible as a book written about a bunch of ancient shepherds but I don’t think we’re all that different from them.
Kafir on April 6, 2011 at 6:58 AM