There was once a time when AARP fought for the interests of older and disabled Americans with Medicare. Then, AARP made a deal with UnitedHealth to market UnitedHealth products to its members. Now, AARP is largely silent when it comes to the often deadly nature of Medicare Advantage and the inappropriate delays and denials of care in UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage plans. Don’t trust AARP.
Adriel Bettelheim reports for Axios that UnitedHealth paid AARP $9 billion in royalties last year. AARP’s silence regarding grave concerns with Medicare Advantage is chilling at a time when UnitedHealth and many other insurers are engaged in widespread and persistent inappropriate delays and denials of care for their Medicare Advantage enrollees. Choosing a Medicare Advantage plan, including one’s with AARP branding, can mean gambling with your life.
Unfortunately, some people don’t have a choice but to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan. Upfront costs of traditional Medicare, which guarantees you choice of doctors and hospitals and easy access to the care your treatment physicians say you need, can be high.
AARP’s deal with UnitedHealth has enormous bearing on its policies and advocacy. Its silence whenever a new serious issue with UnitedHealth comes to light tells you everything you need to know. If AARP were speaking out for the interests of its members, it would be explaining that traditional Medicare (TM) guarantees people get the care they need from the best doctors and hospitals and that, with Medicare Advantage, people are gambling with their lives.
The insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans often keep you from seeing the best doctors and don’t cover the care you need. They wrongly deny care that Medicare covers. The insurers profit more the more care they deny. They profit most when they deny complex and costly care or keep you from using a cancer center of excellence or other high quality hospital or specialist. That’s why they never compete for members with serious health conditions.
Older Americans need the easy access to reliable care they get in Traditional Medicare, not the delays and denials of care they get in Medicare Advantage. AARP should be leading the charge for easy access to needed care for everyone with Medicare, but they remain silent.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Five things to think about when choosing between traditional Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan
- Well-kept secrets of Medicare Advantage plans
- Why has AARP been supporting ALEC?
- Can you trust AARP when it comes to choosing a Medicare Advantage plan or health clinic?
- 2025: What will your Social Security benefits be when you retire?
