AARP Online Community: AARPTX

AARPTX

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Location:
Austin, Texas
United States

Hometown(s):
98 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 750, Austin, Texas 78701

2323 S. Shepherd, Suite 1100, Houston, Texas 77019

8144 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75231

My Websites:
http://www.aarp.org/tx

Quote:
"The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live." - Ethel Percy Andrus

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About Me

About the AARP Texas State Office

With 2.4 million members and 166 chapters statewide, AARP Texas helps to create a society where people 50+ age with dignity and purpose. We offer information and resources; legislative, regulatory, and legal advocacy; a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services; and we assist our members in serving their communities. We produce a quarterly newsletter for members and a website: www.aarp.org/states/tx.

AARP recently launched Divided We Fail: a broad-based, bi-partisan national effort designed to make sure that Americans have access to affordable, quality health care as well as peace of mind about their financial security. AARP believes that individuals, businesses, health care providers, non-profit organizations, and government must work together to find solutions - personally, privately and publicly.

hurricane resources

AARP has developed an online brochure called "Putting Things Back Together" to help homeowners affected by the hurricanes or facing the aftermath of a natural disaster. En Espanol

Chapter Websites

AARP South Austin Chapter 2426

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Courtesy of Bill Lile via a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.

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En Espanol - Mature Living Television

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Digital Television Switch

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Mature Living Television Show

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My Journals (68)

Survey: Members Back Critical Provisions of Health Care Reform

A new poll of AARP members finds strong support across party and ideological lines for elements of health care reform included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives. The bill, which strictly limits how much more insurance companies can charge based on age and closes the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole, was endorsed by AARP.

Among AARP members, strong majorities reported that many of the bill’s key provisions were convincing reasons to support the legislation. These include strictly limiting insurers from charging much higher premiums because of age (68%), closing the gap in Medicare’s prescription drug coverage known as the doughnut hole (69%) and improving coverage for critical preventive services like cancer screenings (77%).

While a partisan divide was evident when respondents were asked about the current plan in Congress, AARP members supported the legislation by more than a 2-1 (63%-30%) margin. More than half of self-described independents indicated support for the plan.

Other reform elements with high levels of support among AARP members included ensuring Americans can see the doctor of their choice (76%), stopping insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s health history (75%) and ensuring Americans can keep their current coverage (78%). Majorities of self-identified Republicans supported most of the reform elements presented, including stopping discrimination because of pre-existing conditions (66%), covering routine preventive care (64%) and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices (64%).

Starting on Tuesday, November 17th, AARP will launch a new national television ad on a mix of news, lifestyle, cable and sports channels. The ad, entitled “HELP,” demonstrates that people from all walks of life are feeling stranded by the current health care system. It calls attention to the need for the kind of health care reform AARP has been fighting for: reform that will put patients first, protect Medicare, bring down drug costs and ensure that no one can be denied affordable health care because of their age or health history.

AARP surveyed its members on key health care reform provisions supported by AARP, as well as other contentious issues being discussed in the debate. The telephone survey, fielded October 30 to November 8, 2009, was conducted with randomly selected members of AARP. The nationally representative sample of 803 AARP members has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

Added: November 18, 2009
Views: 38 | Comments: 1 | Bookmarks: 0

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Comments (37)

bobnelsons says:

Whenever a bureaucracy exists, regardless of the makeup of the bureaucracy, there WILL be pressure to conform to the "party line". So regardless of AARP's description of the members of NPC, I don't believe nfrankl had his question answered. Just more bureaucratic mumble-jumble. The question was, did AARP ask their members for their input? And the answer, from a very disgruntled member is a resounding "NO". If AARP REALLY wanted to pursue reform, they could have encouraged their friends in Congress to push for:
1. Reduction of Medicare fraud ($60 Billion a year)
2. Elimination of the prescription drug "donut hole".
3. Registration of all illegal aliens so we can eliminate them from our health care system.
4. Elimination of double billing by tiers of Advantage + programs. (My medicare is administered by AETNA, who has Secure Horizons keeping records, who has AARP endorsing the program and signing up more members. That's THREE tiers, each getting something from Medicare for just "being there".)
5. Increasing payments to doctors so more of them will accept Medicare.
6. Providing tax incentives to citizens equal to their annual payments for insurance just like self-employed people enjoy.
Bob Nelson, Arlington, TX

Posted: November 17, 2009 12:03PM EST

bobnelsons says:

Right on, Leftydad18. I don't believe AARP is interested in ANYTHING except huge sums of money they get from the Government as a Medicare Advantage provider. I understand that money is hundreds of times what the membership dues income is, so it's no wonder AARP ignores it's members opinion. If you go to their website for Health Reform, they claim that over 1 million members SUPPORT the bill. AARP claims to have 26 million members, so the "silent majority" obviously does NOT support AARP's efforts on this legislation. I'm not cancelling my membership because I want to keep in touch with what AARP is doing, and saying. I AM however going to join AMAC (www.amac.us) because I believe in their conservative philosophy and efforts.
Bob Nelson, Arlington, TX

Posted: November 17, 2009 11:49AM EST