Fiscal Tax Blog

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Jon Decker: AARP’s Stance on Prescription Price Controls Hurts Older Americans

After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently unveiled its finalized proposal to lower prescription drug costs by passing on rebate discounts directly to Medicare patients, seniors would rightly expect the AARP to be supportive. After all, the organization is supposed to represent seniors and their interests. According to the HHS, under the current rebate system: “Drug companies pay rebates and other payments to PBMs [pharmacy benefits managers], but these payments are…

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Why Does AARP Oppose Prescription Drug Rebate Policy that Benefits Seniors?

After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently unveiled its finalized proposal to lower prescription drug costs by passing on rebate discounts directly to Medicare patients, seniors would rightly expect the AARP to be supportive. After all, the organization is supposed to represent seniors and their interests. But that’s not what happened. Instead, it took AARP mere hours to publicly criticize the proposal, saying in part that, “AARP supports solutions that will lower drug…

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Thomas Catenacci: ‘AARP Works Against Its Members’: AARP Overcharges Members While Reporting Billion-Dollar Revenues, Report Says

  Although AARP is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, it has been consistently racking in large profits. AARP’s 4.95% fee that it charges members who enroll in Medigap policies has resulted in a House investigation and lawsuits. The Affordable Care Act awarded Medigap policies a series of favorable exemptions from key provisions in the bill. AARP finances its operations by overcharging members for health care policies and through its billion-dollar relationship with UnitedHealth Group, according to…

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Patrick Brenner: Crony Capitalism Is Alive and Well During COVID-19

Congress is in recess until after Labor Day. As a result, people across the nation are furious with their elected representatives for leaving Washington without passing another COVID-19 economic relief package. The implications for extra unemployment insurance that keeps people out of the workforce and stimulus checks that increase our national debt notwithstanding, there’s another silver lining: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s crony capitalist giveaway to health insurance giants is at least a few…

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Nathan Williamson: Could Trump Executive Order Eliminate AARP’s Sweetheart Deal?

While President Donald Trump admits his announced executive order on pre-existing conditions amounts to “signaling,” behind the scenes, some conservatives are urging the administration to explore the possibility of going one step further by eliminating a crony Obama-era giveaway to AARP. For context, look to the unholy alliance between AARP and the insurance giant UnitedHealthGroup. Its mission has apparently been to rake in profits on the backs of the American seniors it claims to “serve.” In…

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Chris Jacobs: How AARP Puts Profits over Patients—And Principles

Unfortunately, the old saying about looks being deceiving applies to some interest groups in Washington, chief among them AARP. That organization, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, attempts to call itself a consumer advocacy group and continues to play a high-power role in major health policy debates based on the perception that it represents seniors. But in reality, AARP functions as a marketing and lobbying arm of its for-profit partners—and frequently behaves in ways…

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Infographic: How AARP Puts Profits over Patients

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2020 Study: AARP Put Profits Over Patients – And Principles

Read the in depth report by Chris Jacobs, that dives into how AARP has abandoned its core constituency and has instead, put its financial partner, UnitedHealth, and bottom line above all… “Some Americans might think of AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, as a membership and advocacy organization. However, the reality has proven far different…” Read the full report here.