Timeline: AARP at 65

1984

• President Ronald Reagan signs the AARP-backed Retirement Equity Act, which allows pensions to be divided upon divorce or legal separation — a significant breakthrough in enhancing women’s financial security.

AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal

Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Join Now

1985

• The AARP Public Policy Institute is established. It is now one of the nation’s leading research organizations aimed at reliable, objective information on aging.
• AARP launches the Minority Affairs Initiative to help create greater awareness of the needs of aging Blacks, Hispanics and other members of our diverse culture.

AARP

1987

• Recognizing the need to be closer to members and other older Americans, AARP establishes its first state office in Pennsylvania. Today, AARP has offices in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.

1988

• Ahead of the year’s presidential election, AARP holds presidential candidate forums and mails informative, nonpartisan voter guides to members in key states. Campaigns to get older Americans to vote have continued with most every major election.

Barry Thumma/AP

1990

• The Americans with Disabilities Act becomes law, banning employment discrimination against the disabled and requiring greater access to buildings and public transportation. AARP is a strong advocate, in recognition that more Americans face disabling illness or injury as they age.

1991

• Recognizing the need to help veterans who are moving into civilian life, AARP creates the Transition Planning for Military Personnel. AARP has been a strong advocate for veterans throughout its history.

Lisa Poole/AP

1994

• AARP Online launches with portals on AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe, enabling members to look up information about the organization’s programs and services. AARP.org is launched two years later.

1998

• AARP Foundation Litigation is established to protect people 50-plus in the courts. Recent efforts have included aggressive litigation to make long-term care facilities safer, stop age discrimination, protect pensions and retirement savings, and keep medical records private.
• AARP teams with Microsoft Corp. to offer seminars nationwide to help members learn how to use the internet.​

Adam Vorhees

2000

• AARP’s advocacy efforts help modify the Social Security earnings limit. As a result, people who have reached full retirement age no longer risk losing some of their Social Security benefits when they choose to continue working.

Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images for AARP

2002

• To address Hollywood’s dearth of movies for older Americans, AARP The Magazine introduces Movies for Grownups as a regular feature. Today, the Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony is among the elite awards programs each year in Hollywood.

2003

• AARP works diligently to help enact the National Do Not Call Registry.
• AARP works to create Medicare Part D, which for the first time provides Medicare coverage for prescription drugs.

2005

• Following the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, AARP Foundation leads large fundraising and volunteer service efforts to assist older victims. AARP and its foundation have raised tens of millions of dollars for victims of natural disasters and other calamities in both the U.S. and overseas through the years.

2007

• AARP’s study “Valuing the Invaluable” finds that family caregivers contribute a massive $350 billion in economic value — more than four times what Medicare and Medicaid spend annually on nursing home care. AARP’s work to bring attention to the value, and needs, of family caregivers continues.

2009

• The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presents its Trustees Award to AARP — the first time in history the award goes to a nonprofit. The award “honors AARP for its use of television and other forms of electronic media to ... enhance the quality of life for all as we age.”

2010

• AARP fights for the Affordable Care Act, which prevents a costly “age tax” to purchase insurance, requires insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions and helps people in Medicare with high drug costs by gradually closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, or what Medicare calls the “donut hole.”

2011

• Recognizing the critical need to teach young people better reading skills, AARP joins with Experience Corps to create a nationwide volunteer network of older adult tutors.

2013

• Building on decades of consumer protection efforts, AARP launches Fraud Watch Network, which has helped tens of millions of people spot, report and avoid scams and identity theft.

2014

• AARP launches AARP Travel, a one-stop collection of travel resources that helps people dream, plan, book, experience and share a trip.

2020

• With COVID-19 forcing many people to quarantine, AARP urges Medicare to expand coverage of telemedicine — a change that is soon adopted.

2022

• AARP leads efforts that are signed into law in 2022 to empower Medicare to negotiate prices of certain drugs, cap out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and impose tax penalties for drugmakers that increase prices faster than inflation.
• Millions of Americans with mild-to-moderate hearing loss can now buy less expensive hearing aids without a doctor’s participation, thanks to a new ruling from the Food and Drug Administration after a multiyear advocacy effort by AARP.

2023 ... and Beyond

We’re just getting started! AARP has robust plans to be a vital part of improving aging in America for many, many years to come.

With a consequential election looming in 2024, AARP will be running voter education efforts all across America through the primary and general election seasons. Our advocacy to protect and strengthen Social Security will continue, as will efforts to further bring down the price of prescription drugs. AARP will bring the fight against age discrimination to Congress, statehouses, courtrooms and even boardrooms. And our essential work to make sure that family caregivers are respected and supported will go full speed ahead.

On top of that, we’ll keep up our pioneering efforts to protect older people from fraud. AARP has been a wise friend and fierce defender for older Americans for 65 years — and we pledge to keep fighting so that the future is ever brighter for age-50-plus Americans.