AARP: Always Looking Out for Itself…
As you may have heard, AARP has publicized a special insert included in its monthly bulletin to members to outline the new health care law. The first page includes a list of “Ten Things You Need to Know about the Law,” including that it “makes pre-existing conditions a thing of the past.” However, later in the document, some critically important fine print appears in the summary of Medicare provisions:
Medigap supplemental insurance: No change. You will not be required to buy a private Medigap policy. If you buy Medigap insurance outside of the limited time frames when full federal protections apply, insurers can still deny coverage or require you to pay higher rates because of your health and preexisting conditions.
When it comes to Medigap insurers denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, AARP knows what it’s talking about – because the AARP- sponsored Medigap plan denies coverage and imposes waiting periods for vulnerable seniors with pre-existing conditions in many states. And for AARP, denying vulnerable seniors supplemental coverage is a lucrative business indeed: By its own admission AARP has received more than $3 billion in windfall profits over the past decade for selling Medigap and other insurance products – and obtained nearly 40 percent of its $1.1 billion in 2008 revenue from United Health Group.
So while AARP is happy to trumpet Democrat talking points about pre-existing conditions, it very conveniently received a “backroom deal” from those same Democrats that preserved AARP’s right to continue denying care to vulnerable seniors with pre-existing conditions in the Medigap market where AARP makes most of its money. An advocacy organization that puts preserving its own kickbacks before protecting vulnerable seniors – that’s the real news “bulletin” AARP should be providing to its members.