The AARP pocketed an estimated $6.7 billion tax free since 2007 from the nation’s leading health insurer, UnitedHealth Group, for pitching AARP-branded insurance plans.
This is according to a recent report by American Commitment, a right-of-center 501 (c )(3) charitable group that advocates for free markets and lmited government.
The organization claims “royalty fees” earned by the AARP’s lucrative business of licensing its brand name to insurance providers and other companies long ago superceded its commitment to advocating on behalf of older Americans.
American Commitment is asking Congress to investigate what it calls the AARP’s “serious” conflict of interest.
The AARP may have something to worry about for the first time in years.
The AARP, which has about 37 million members, has been closely allied with the Democratic Party since it successfully lobbied Pres. Barack Obama to forego Medigap reforms in 2012. Medigap refers to health care costs that are not covered under Medicare. In exchange for sparing Medigap, the AARP reportedly supported Obamacare, a plan that was widely opposed by the AARP’s membership.
American Commitment states that Obamacare has cut $716 billion from Medicare.
An AARP spokesperson Friday issued a statement that AARP Services, Inc. (ASI) is a wholly-owned taxable subsidiary of AARP and “provides quality control and oversight on behalf of AARP for AARP-branded products and services. Neither ASI nor providers have input into AARP policy-making.”