Monday, August 10, 2009 5:07 PM

Meet The Health Care Players: AARP

This nonprofit organization of 40 million members represents Americans aged 50 and over, a segment of the population that's particularly tuned in to the health care debate.

What They Want
AARP's No. 1 goal from reform legislation is to make health care affordable, said John Rother, executive vice president of policy and strategy at AARP. The group suggests reaching that goal by limiting insurance companies' ability to rate costumers based on age or preexisting conditions.

Additionally, AARP wants to improve Medicare, specifically by closing the "doughnut hole." Currently, Medicare Part D -- the prescription drug program -- covers 75 percent of prescription drug costs up to a certain level, then covers no part of prescription costs in a coverage gap, then covers 95 percent at the highest levels of prescription costs. The cost limits change annually; for 2009 the coverage gap where seniors must pay 100 percent of their prescription costs is between $2,700 and $6,154.

In 2007, 26 percent of seniors who were enrolled in Medicare Part D and did not receive low-income subsidies reached the level where they had to pay 100 percent of their prescription costs out of pocket, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. Of that 26 percent, 15 percent eventually reached the level of catastrophic costs.

AARP is also working to add transitional care services, improve long-term care and lower the costs of medications. To lower prescription costs, AARP would like to see generic competition to biologics allowed within seven years, a time frame supported by the White House.

Deal Breakers
Adding any new costs or limits to Medicare should not be a part of health care reform, Rother said. But beyond that, it would take inclusion of an extreme measure for AARP to oppose a reform bill. "The biggest opposition is to status quo," he said. "It's the most expensive, worst outcome you could imagine."

How Much They've Spent
AARP spent about $9.4 million on lobbying activities during the first half of 2009, including promoting nursing education, safe importation of prescription drugs from abroad and prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, according to lobbying disclosure forms. That figure doesn't include money spent through various coalitions, such as Divided We Fail and the National Coalition on Health Care, that are also pushing for reform.

The group this week launched a multimillion-dollar advertising and grassroots campaign in support of health care reform. The campaign will feature ads that counter some of the myths about reform -- like that it will result in rationed health care or euthanasia -- being used to sway the opinions of older Americans, Rother said. (Click here to see the ads.)

Key Players
A. Barry Rand, AARP's CEO, (who photo above was provided by AARP) has joined President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, White House officials and members of Congress for public town halls and private meetings.

Rand does not have a professional background in health care -- before joining the AARP in March, he spent most of his career as an executive at Xerox -- but says he learned about the health care system firsthand when he when he was his father's caregiver for the last eight years of his life.

"My experience with my father was eye-opening," Rand said in a March press release. "Caring for him brought home for me the simple truth that access to low-cost, high-quality health care and financial security are prerequisites for achieving the American Dream."

Rother has also played a key role as part of AARP's health care team. He has been with AARP for 25 years and previously worked for Sen. Jacob Javits, R-N.Y, and the Special Committee on Aging.

AARP President Jennie Chin Hansen, a registered nurse, has testified on health care reform before the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Hansen is commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and a senior fellow at the University of California-San Francisco's Center for the Health Professions.

Read two profiles of AARP written by National Journal's K Street reporters, Bara Vaida and Julie Kosterlitz:

"AARP's Big Bet" and "Advocacy, The World According to AARP" (subscription)

Links
AARP Health Care Page
AARP Townhall With Obama
KFF Report On "Doughnut Hole"