Here’s an interesting addition from Gallup to the discussion about AARP’s lobbying for Obamacare and the massive financial support for Obama and other Democratic candidates and causes from members of the association’s Washington staff: Seems that seniors are the group most skeptical of Obamacare.
When asked if they believe a new healthcare reform law will improve or worse health care quality in the U.S., 43 percent of respondents 65 years of age or older said it will worsen care, while 34 percent said it will improve it. That compares to 45 percent of those age 50-64 who think it will improve care quality, and only 33 percent who think it will worsen care quality. Note that those two categories essentially cover the Baby Boom generations and their surviving parents.
Go here for the rest of Gallup’s explanation of its numbers. I have asked AARP for a response, which I will post here in an update as soon as it becomes available. You should also read AARP’s response to my Thursday column about the group’s Democratic leanings and why Obamacare could kill the organization.
HT: Peter Roff of U.S. News & World Report.
UPDATE: AARP says it communicates with its members continually
As I promised, here is the response I received this morning from AARP vice president Andrew Nannis to the questions posed in the original post:
“We are in constant communication with our membership through a variety of channels, which is exactly why our health care reform priorities are focused around improving and strengthening Medicare (including closing the Part D ‘doughnut hole’), as well making sure that those ages 50-64 can afford quality coverage by knocking down discriminatory insurance industry practices and providing financial support [for those] who need it.
“The AARP tele-town hall you no doubt saw with President Obama this week was one in a long line of these (I believe about 40) we’ve been doing and will continue to do so we can take questions directly from our members. This is far from the only way we keep in touch with our members, just one of the more visible.
“More importantly, and I’d think you’d get this right given your clear fervor for covering our organization, AARP has not endorsed any of the comprehensive reform bills out there but instead supports specific measures that would help our members, like pieces that would close the doughnut hole; make safe, generic versions of expensive biologic drugs available to people who cannot currently afford them; and crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. Somehow you seem to have missed this from our CEO Barry Rand in the national tele-townhall we conducted on Tuesday, ‘I want to make it clear that AARP has not endorsed any of the bills currently being debated in the Congress.’ Stated, I might add, with the President sitting about 4 feet away.”
I then asked these followup questions of Nannis and will post his responses: How specifically is that communication quantified on specific issues of whether AARP should or should not support particular measures? Is that communication done on a statistically credible basis or through some other method? A related question: Why has AARP spent nearly $10 million on lobbying thus far in 2009?
