What Good Is AARP And Why Do They Promote Medicare Disadvantage?

[Grumblenuts]

All AARP has ever seemed to offer me is a free gym bag or some such crap for signing up with them. A supposed "nonprofit" created to support and represent the elderly, it apparently used to do some good things, but nothing lately FAICT.

Why Is AARP Boosting Medicare Privatization?

The advocacy organization is welcoming the for-profit takeover of its members’ national health insurance program — because it earns hundreds of millions as part of the deal

www.levernews.com

All this is to warn listeners if you know elderly people that are being swarmed over with these deceptive brochures – tens of millions of people have been receiving them for several weeks – tell them not to go into Medicare Advantage. It’s a snare and a delusion. And it’s a cruel surprise when you’re really sick, and you need to get those bills paid. - Ralph Nader

What we really need to demand? Medicare For All!

 

[DGS49]

Medicare and its alternatives are a jumbled mess of questionable alternatives, and everyone should look at their own needs and likely future needs before deciding which avenue to pursue. Advertisers cannot be blamed for pushing their own products and services. The linked article seems like an inflammatory bit of nonsense, and their faux outrage at the AARP's CEO making $1.3 Million..gimme a fucking break. That is a pittance compared to comparable organizations' CEO salaries.

As for the conclusion of the article, Medicare for all? Do they also advocate an increase of the Medicare payroll tax to 10%?

Like I say, the linked article just looks like empty, inflammatory nonsense.

 

[sparky]

AARP is a predator industry

~S~

 

[Calypso Jones]

medicare is not good for the general public. The aim is to eliminate as quietly as possible our older citizens.

 

[1srelluc]

AARP profits from managing the MA accounts.....Same as other insurers.

Medicare Advantage is a capitated program for providing Medicare benefits in the United States. Under Part C, Medicare pays a private-sector health insurer a fixed payment. The insurer then pays for the health care expenses of enrollees. Insurers are allowed to vary the benefits from those provided by Medicare's other parts.

 

[The Duke]

All AARP has ever seemed to offer me is a free gym bag or some such crap for signing up with them. A supposed "nonprofit" created to support and represent the elderly, it apparently used to do some good things, but nothing lately FAICT.

Why Is AARP Boosting Medicare Privatization?

The advocacy organization is welcoming the for-profit takeover of its members’ national health insurance program — because it earns hundreds of millions as part of the deal

www.levernews.com

What we really need to demand? Medicare For All!

AARP is nothing but "The Hartford" insurance anymore. It didn't start out like that, but that's how it is now.
AARP wants to sell you some insurance! No doubt they have a Medicare supplement insurance ready to go!

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

I joined because they have fun word games on their games page.

Oh, and discounts.


.

 

[evenflow1969]

All AARP has ever seemed to offer me is a free gym bag or some such crap for signing up with them. A supposed "nonprofit" created to support and represent the elderly, it apparently used to do some good things, but nothing lately FAICT.

Why Is AARP Boosting Medicare Privatization?

The advocacy organization is welcoming the for-profit takeover of its members’ national health insurance program — because it earns hundreds of millions as part of the deal

www.levernews.com

What we really need to demand? Medicare For All!

Profit above all has crept into the organization. This is what you get when that happens.

 

[Grumblenuts]

AARP is nothing but "The Hartford" insurance anymore. It didn't start out like that, but that's how it is now.
AARP wants to sell you some insurance! No doubt they have a Medicare supplement insurance ready to go!

Dunno about any "The Hartford" connection, but the link I provided makes plain that AARP has long been joined at the hip with UnitedHealthcare, pimping its Medicare DisAdvantage fraud scheme, even signing some members up without their consent.

 

[DGS49]

For those who don't see it up close, Medicare has turned American senior citizens into cash cows. I have seen MANY old farts who were at death's door with no hope of recovery, and the Medico's just kept pushing more and more tests and procedures until the poor bastards were finally able to give it up.

It is a disgrace that nobody talks about.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

For those who don't see it up close, Medicare has turned American senior citizens into cash cows. I have seen MANY old farts who were at death's door with no hope of recovery, and the Medico's just kept pushing more and more tests and procedures until the poor bastards were finally able to give it up.

It is a disgrace that nobody talks about.

Indeed. Seen it plenty.

It's why I refuse to have insurance.


.

 

[strollingbones]

one needs to include hospice in this

 

[CrusaderFrank]

All AARP has ever seemed to offer me is a free gym bag or some such crap for signing up with them. A supposed "nonprofit" created to support and represent the elderly, it apparently used to do some good things, but nothing lately FAICT.

Why Is AARP Boosting Medicare Privatization?

The advocacy organization is welcoming the for-profit takeover of its members’ national health insurance program — because it earns hundreds of millions as part of the deal

www.levernews.com

What we really need to demand? Medicare For All!

AARP was designed by the US Government to keep seniors stupid and docile

 

[strollingbones]

why would they duplicate the gop?

 

[Grumblenuts]

Wow, so many drive-by shots in the dark when I hit unignore. I had no idea. Where have all the smart people gone?

No wonder Ralph keeps returning to this week after week. The major media have been so silent about it for so long that few people have any real clue.

On second thought, I am recalling a "The Hartford" AARP scandal. But man, that had to be in the news like twenty years ago or more. It did, as I recall, signal the ultimate demise of AARP so far as being of any genuine use to the elderly. And yes, senior discounts. That's about all they've had to offer since forever. That and a dollar might just get you a discount cup of Joe.. still. Wait,.. oops, don't need them for that either:

2022 Biggest List of Senior Discounts (Restaurants, Retail, Travel & More)

While some business have discontinued their senior discounts, others have added new deals for older adults. Some even start as early as age 50.

www.theseniorlist.com

AARP was designed by the US Government to keep seniors stupid and docile

Uh, no. The intent was clearly good, but the chosen method of execution was (unfortunately) terrible.

While AARP was founded after the campaign to create the program that eventually became Medicare had begun, the Association and its founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, would nevertheless play an active and important role in championing health insurance for older Americans and crafting Medicare into a successful program.

And there it is. Health "insurance" not "care." Back then HMOs were still rather new and shiny. Doctors and hospital chains were clearly robbing your average Joe blind, not to mention your average Jane. So insurance seemed like a good idea. Everyone chips in a little to create a big pool of money to pay for those inevitable rainy days. And blam, sold. Few thought twice. In reality, insurance had proven a great idea, so long as all the participants knew one another, were related, or otherwise associated closely enough to form a reasonable basis "in trust."

Social Security met that difficult test on such a grand scale because all had a reasonably equal stake in the game. It was just about providing a financial floor for all who retired in a world where one's wealth tended to vary increasingly wildly from year to year based on luck more than anything else. All still understand that insurance is something you have to pay for. But Medicare started off promising something for nothing. One's Social Security would somehow just magically pay for it all. That notion doomed it to failure just as even Kaiser Permanente (who continues to thrive only because they still do provide a lot of "care") shall also fail eventually. Social Security was pillaged by the Big Insurance lobby else we'd all (sensibly) still be paying for our healthcare out of pocket rather than largely being forced to purchase "insurance" to pay for our "care" against our will.

So now that we have separate payroll deductions for SS and Medicare the scam has become far more evident. People know that that the current Medicare system has grown increasingly corrupt. However, the cause is not "the government." The government is us. No kidding it's our fault. We are not active, not physically engaged enough, so we are stuck with the consequences. But make no mistake. It is those with real money, hiding behind their big corporate "person" shelters, who move all the big pieces into place just to further enrich themselves at our expense.

"Medicare For All," as proposed by Jayapal, is nothing like current Medicare. The two are not comparable. Like Social Security, the intent is to provide a solid floor of "care" for all so that we can finally rid ourselves of these giant corporate leeches who, as at least one mentioned, swoop in when we're in our death throws to grab every last bit of remaining flesh before the undertaker mercifully arrives. We all share that same problem.

 

[Grumblenuts]

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