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Little Rock, Arkansas
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AARP Endorses Affordable Health Care for America Act

“These bills represent hope for 50-64 year old Arkansans who are uninsured as well as for the state’s Medicare beneficiaries.”

 
LITTLE ROCK - Today AARP announced its endorsement of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) and the accompanying Medicare physician payment fix (H.R. 3961). The Association’s support follows nearly two years of work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to craft a health care reform plan that meets the needs of AARP’s nearly 40 million members and all older Americans. Among those needs are reforms that strictly curb insurance companies’ discrimination against older Americans and Medicare improvements that strengthen benefits while protecting the program for future generations.
 
“These bills represent hope for more than 70 thousand Arkansans age 50 to 64 who are uninsured and for too many Arkansans on Medicare who still spend 30 percent of their income for health care,” said Maria Reynolds-Diaz, AARP Arkansas state director.
 
Today’s endorsement marks the first time in this legislative battle that AARP has put its full weight behind a comprehensive health care reform package. In the coming days, AARP will be educating its members about the health care reform package through its publications, paid advertising and more than five million calls and e-mails to its grassroots activists.
 
“The House health care reform proposals AARP is endorsing address several of the concerns our members have expressed about their health care,” Diaz said. “Arkansas’s congressional delegation will hear from those AARP members and more,” she declared.
 
The Affordable Health Care for America Act and the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act contain critical components AARP has been fighting for on behalf of its members and all older Americans to improve health care for them and their families. They include:
 
--Protecting and strengthening Medicare for today’s seniors and future generations of retirees;
--Ensuring seniors can see the doctor of their choice or find a doctor if they need one by improving Medicare’s
 payments to doctors;
--Lowering drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole;”
--Taking steps to reduce waste, fraud, abuse and inefficiency in the Medicare program;
--Requiring Medicare and insurance companies to provide for important preventive services like screenings for
 diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis free of charge;
--Preventing insurers from denying affordable coverage to anyone because of their age or health;
--Limiting how much your insurance company can make you pay out-of-pocket;
--Providing affordable health insurance options for those who don’t have insurance; and
--Providing benefits to help seniors and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities.
 
Diaz added: “We cannot continue to let insurers price older Americans out of the market, just as we cannot stand idle while millions of seniors are forced to choose between their groceries and their prescriptions. AARP is proud to endorse the Affordable Health Care for America Act and the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, and we urge all the members of the Arkansas congressional delegation to pass this critical package in the coming days to help fix our broken health care system.”
 
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.5 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's nearly 40 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
 
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