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Walgreens Wellness Tour Comes to VirginiaVirginians With Health Care Problems Welcome Reform Effort
AARP Endorses Affordable Health Care for America Act
Virginians with health care problems welcome reform
RICHMOND—For Katherine Jackson, the announcement that AARP supports the Affordable Health Care for America Act was welcome news.
Jackson was among several AARP members who watched via video conference as AARP’s national leadership announced its endorsement of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) and the accompanying Medicare physician payment fix (H.R. 3961).
“As members of the House gear up for this historic vote, they will hear from older Americans like Katherine Jackson,” said AARP Virginia State Director Bill Kallio.
Jackson, 58, of Chesterfield lost her health coverage when electronics retailer Circuit City went bankrupt. She has been without insurance since February because bankrupt employers are not required to offer COBRA benefits to employees. With a pre-existing condition and chronic health conditions, Jackson can’t find affordable coverage. She has postponed surgery due to her lack of health insurance. She welcomes health care reform.
“Stuff like this happens in other countries, not here,” said Jackson, one of more than a million AARP members in Virginia. In Virginia, 155,133 people between the ages of 50 and 64 lack health insurance. Of the total uninsured in the age group, 67.5 percent worked in 2007.
AARP’s support of the House proposals 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. Medicare provides health care coverage for 996,000 Virginians. Nearly 81 percent of them are over age 65.
“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,” Kallio said. “AARP is proud to endorse the Affordable Health Care for America Act and the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, and we urge members of the House to pass this critical package in the coming days to help fix our broken health care system.”
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 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.
“We started this debate more than two years ago with the twin goals of making coverage affordable to our younger members and protecting Medicare for seniors,” Kallio said. “We can say with confidence that the Affordable Health Care for America Act it meets those goals with improved benefits for people in Medicare and needed health insurance market reforms to help ensure every American can purchase affordable health coverage.”
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.
lagunaray says:
Mr. Jackson had the nerve to send me an email to let me know they took a stand for me today. Mr. Jackson continues on to ask me to send a message of support to my congressmen and friends.
Has Mr. Jackson and AARP lost their minds? This lecherous organization has betrayed the members in preference to line their own pockets at the members expense.
AARP is a marketing organization that has made the ultimate betrayal and given Obama the propaganda he needs to tell all Americans that ALL seniors support ObamaCare.
Not only is ObamaCare a monstrosity that decreases the amount of care to seniors while increasing the cost of living for every American, it is a JOB KILLER. Roughly half of the cost of ObamaCare will come from $400 billion in custs from Medicare while $500 billion will come from increased fees and taxes much of which will be paid by small business owners.
In the midst of a receission with unemployment over 10% and the highest it has been in 26 years, this President and along with the AARP are hellbent on imposing change that will give the government more power and control to affect their desire to redistribute wealth.
The only thing worse than Obamas policies is his unwillingness to tell Americans the truth about his desire for more government and the redistribution of wealth. You can agree with his unConstitutional if not UnAmerican views but Obama shoiuld at least tell Americans the truth. Obama and the AARP have no compunction about lying to Americans to have their way.
I have requested the AARP give members the option to oppose ObamaCare, which they will never do, so if you respond to their call to action, my suggestion is that you delete the AARPs message of support and replace it with your opposition to a bill that is not only bad for seniors, it is bad for all Americans
Posted: November 6, 2009 3:03PM EST
