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Jon Decker: Letter: AARP is wrong about Inflation Reduction Act

AARP Pennsylvania State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh’s opinion piece on the so-called “historic victory” that is the Inflation Reduction Act follows his organization’s misleading narrative. Claiming that a drug “price negotiation” scheme in Medicare will help seniors could not be any further from reality.

Instead, the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare provisions make American health care worse. This new federal law imposes an arbitrary “price negotiation” mandate, which decreases investments in research and development, minimizes patient access to the specific drugs seniors need, and reduces the quality of care. All the while, health insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare would greatly benefit from the law by only covering drugs at the federally mandated price.

It’s not hyperbolic to call the Inflation Reduction Act a travesty for seniors’ health. Price negotiation schemes are disastrous to American health care, and for AARP leaders to paint them as otherwise is a direct betrayal of the seniors they purport to serve. Why would AARP advocate for such a devastative policy?

To answer that question, we need to follow the money; AARP’s 2021 corporate royalty earnings provide a crucial clue. Unsurprisingly, health insurance companies—most notably UnitedHealthcare—make up the vast proportion of AARP’s $1 billion revenue. That fact alone should cause seniors to question who AARP truly advocates for these days.