Staying Fit
Dozens of AARP advocates from across the country converged on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 7, to try to persuade Congress to block legislation projected to raise costs and jeopardize health care coverage for millions of older Americans.
Directors and presidents from every one of AARP’s 53 state and territorial offices spent Lobby Day knocking on doors and meeting with their congressional representatives. Their main mission was to oppose the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA), especially a provision that would impose an “age tax,” which would allow insurers to charge people ages 50 to 64 five times or more what other people pay. Current law caps the charges at three times as much.
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“Our volunteers and staff represent the millions of Americans who would face a massive age tax and discrimination for having a preexisting condition like asthma if the House-proposed health care bill under consideration in the Senate becomes law,” said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. “AARP hopes the Senate starts from scratch and that Congress also passes important family caregiving legislation.”
The more than 150 AARP citizen advocates warned lawmakers that the House bill, if adopted by the Senate and signed into law, would hurt consumers in a number of ways. According to a recent Congressional Budget Office assessment, the bill would cause 23 million people to lose their health insurance by 2026 and drive up costs for older Americans.
The AARP contingent also urged Congress to retain popular provisions of the current law, including one that prevents insurers from charging significantly higher rates to consumers with preexisting medical conditions.
“It’s really frightening that older adults, many on fixed incomes, would be charged more for receiving health care,” said Nancy McPherson, AARP state director in California, who will make the rounds on Capitol Hill on Lobby Day. “The age tax is very alarming to us. And we are concerned that people with pre-existing conditions would be eliminated from getting health care.”
