AARP, the 40-million-member association of older Americans, today announced its endorsement of the sweeping House health care reform bill. The organization’s backing is seen as a major boost for one of the bills that aims to overhaul the nation’s health care system, and it comes as Democratic lawmakers are preparing to bring the measure to the floor for a vote.
 
The announcement came at a press briefing in AARP’s Washington headquarters. Surrounded by boxes holding 1.5 million member petitions supporting health care reform, AARP Chief Executive A. Barry Rand said the organization supports the House bill over other proposals because the measure does more to lower drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, strengthen Medicare and bar insurance companies from denying people coverage because of their health or age. The bill also would lower premiums for Americans ages 50 to 64 who have to buy insurance in the private market and would create a voluntary long-term care insurance program.

"Under the House plan... insurance companies will not be able to reject you or charge you an outrageous premium because you got sick once, you may get sick again, you lost your job, you're over 50 years old or because your employer dropped your coverage," Rand said at the briefing. "Millions of Americans will start to regain control over their lives."

Bonnie Cramer, chair of AARP’s volunteer advisory board, said one key factor in the organization’s decision to support the House bill was that it won’t add to the national deficit. “Our members are worried about financial security for their children and grandchildren,” she said.
 
The AARP endorsement is important because older Americans have been on the front lines in the health care battle, with insurance companies and lobbying groups spending millions in the past months to influence their opinions, sometimes generating misinformation about how health care reform would affect Medicare.

Today’s endorsement, marks the first time in this legislative battle that AARP has put its full weight behind a comprehensive health care reform package. In the coming days, AARP will be informing its members about the health care reform package through its publications, paid advertising and more than 5 million calls and e-mails to its grassroots activists.

In a surprise appearance at the White House briefing  today, President Obama told reporters that he welcomed AARP’s endorsement of the health care reform. He urged Congress to “ listen to AARP “and other supporters and “ and pass this reform for hundreds of millions of Americans.”

Many Republican lawmakers, Blue Cross Blue Shield and other health insurance companies oppose the House bill, in large part because it includes a public option—a government-run insurance plan that could compete with private insurers.

The House legislation would provide health insurance to almost all Americans with a price tag of about $894 billion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And the CBO estimates the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $104 billion over 10 years.

Paying for the bill

The measure would be paid for by a tax on the wealthy—individuals making $500,000 a year and couples with joint tax returns of $1 million, as well as by changes to Medicare and Medicaid worth billions in savings over 10 years, according to the CBO.

“AARP has been fighting for more affordable health care, better health care, for decades,” says John Rother, the group’s executive vice president of policy and strategy. Now, he says, “we have a real chance to achieve that.”

Rother says the bill will not only lower costs for most Americans but also “strengthen Medicare benefits and improve the financial status of the Medicare trust fund.”

For Medicare enrollees, Rother says, the House bill would “completely close the Medicare doughnut hole,” make some preventive services free and improve access to doctors by increasing pay for primary care physicians.

For people under 65, the bill would guarantee affordable health insurance choices, prohibit insurance exclusions based on preexisting conditions, limit insurance costs for older Americans and put a cap on out-of-pocket health insurance expenses, “so that you would know that you weren’t going to be bankrupted by health care costs,” Rother says.

AARP follows a number of other organizations that have endorsed the House bill, including the American Medical Association, Consumers Union, the American College of Physicians, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Families USA.

Joseph Stubbs, M.D., president of the American College of Physicians, says his group supports the bill because it expands affordable health care coverage for all Americans. Stubbs, a practicing internist in Albany, Ga., says older Americans would benefit from the bill and thinks concerns that its reforms would mean cuts in Medicare benefits are unfounded.

“In fact, there’s going to be an improved benefit for senior citizens in that it’s likely the cost of medications is going to go down,” Stubbs says.

For those worried they will not be able to choose their own doctors, he says, the proposed legislation would not affect patient choice.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, said the House bill creates a more affordable health care system.

“Health care is a consumer crisis, with its crippling costs, its unreliability and lack of access for too many Americans,” said Jim Guest, the group’s president. “The House bill goes a long way towards solving the crisis.”

An analysis of the House bill from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a private research group in Washington, found the legislation would “both strengthen Medicare’s financial footing” and benefit uninsured adults ages 55 to 64.
 

Here are some elements of the bill that AARP and other supporters contend will help Americans age 50 and older:

• Eliminates the “doughnut hole”: The House legislation would immediately start closing the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole, which forces those in Medicare to pay 100 percent of their medications once they have purchased more than $2,700 worth of drugs. About 3.4 million Americans fell into the doughnut hole in 2007, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• Expands preventive care for Medicare: Because many preventive care services covered by Medicare usually require patients to share the cost, many older Americans skip important screening tests for cancer, glaucoma, colon cancer and other diseases. The House bill removes deductibles and co-insurance for all preventive care services. Health care experts say a greater focus on preventive care will save money.

• Guarantees access to health care: Under the House bill, insurers would no longer be able to deny care because of people’s age, gender or health. In 2006, nearly 25 percent of adults ages 55 to 64 were rejected when they applied for health coverage, according to the Center for Policy and Research.

• Helps people age at home: Provides funds for older people and those with disabilities to remain in their homes and communities.

• Limits health insurance costs: Most states can currently charge higher insurance premiums based on people’s age or health conditions. The House bill would not allow higher premiums based on age or gender and would limit insurers’ ability to charge more based on age—insurers could charge older people no more than twice the amount charged to the youngest adults.

• Provides help for low- and medium-income people to buy health coverage: The House bill would provide subsidies for insurance purchased through a health insurance exchange for people with incomes below 400 percent of the poverty line but too high to qualify for Medicaid, as well as provide help in paying insurance for others with low and medium incomes.

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Elizabeth Agnvall is a contributing editor at the AARP Bulletin.