Looks like AARP drank the Kool-aid on the need for "private" insurance.

[dixiegrrrrl]

AARP editorial in its monthly ( June ) magazine:
" We are not talking socialized medicine here, but rather a uniquely American system built on the existing network of :
employer-provided care
private insurance
and a strengthened Medicare."



As to the above...
"a uniquely American system"
is what we have ! And it does not serve those who need affordable heatlh care.

"employer-provided care"
is becoming extinct, as big companies blatantly drop it, small companies can no longer afford it, and the government wants to tax it.

"private insurance"
is outrageously expensive, becoming more un affordable every day, does not really provide real coverage unless you have the stamina of a long distance runner and can be as ruthless as the Mafia in getting them to pay for anything. In which case you are probably healthy.
( See "Sicko" if you need to, most of us already know the nightmare.)

" a strengthened Medicare"
AARP backed the insurance written prescription bill, which is a massive rip-off.

Mandatory insurance is not an option.
AARP claims to represent people over 50, but appears to be chanting the corporate line.

Anyone else notice when you join AARP you IMMEDIATELY are on every insurance mailing list?
We canceled our AARP membership last year.
The newsletters, mail solicitations keep right on coming.

[QC]

1. AARP *sells* insurance.

That's what they make most of their money from.

[cagesoulman]

7. Fucking conflict of interest

AARP is crap.

[QC]

9. I don't think there's any such thing as conflict of interest in this country anymore.

If it makes a buck, it's right.

[cagesoulman]

11. Hey, then let's legalize prostitution

The hookers could be self-employed and not get beaten up by pimps.

[QC]

12. Well, that would upset the Puritans. Sex is sinful. Money is holy.

Things are only sinful if they involve sex.

[cagesoulman]

14. So why do those fuckers reproduce?

They should be celibate.

[QC]

16. Well, they have a sacred obligation to breed so that they can take over the world.

Seriously.

http://www.quiverfull.com/

[cagesoulman]

17. This is such total bullshit.

That fucking bible was written thousands of years ago and that "increase and muliply" crap goes back to before frigging Moses.

[OregonBlue]

10. Yes, AARP IS INSURANCE. I dropped my subscription long ago.

[rebel with a cause]

33. Never had it and never will.

It is not meant for us poor folks, it is more for those who can afford the better things in life. Like health insurance, traveling and staying in hotels and such. ;)

[Warren Stupidity]

19. First thing that came to my mind too. nt.

[QC]

26. Yeah, most people think they are just this nice group trying to help gramma and grampa

get a fair shake in life, but they are one of the largest insurers in the country.

[villager]

2. I just became, ah, "eligible" to join...

...but am wondering if the discounts are worth it?

I don't want to support their go-along-to-get-along lobbying...

[John Q. Citizen]

6. They are just an insurance company. They aren't grass roots they are astro turf.

[Maru Kitteh]

13. Back when we were young I think, AARP was different

I think they used to be good. Not so much anymore.

[LostinVA]

24. Get AAA -- same discounts, sometimes better

And, they usually lobby for decent highway safety stuff.

[jwirr]

3. I have refused to join them because they are more interested in their

bottom line insurance plan than what this country really needs.

[clear eye]

4. AARP is a private insurer themselves.

The sell "Medi-Gap" insurance. No surprise here.

[shraby]

5. They did on the drug prescription bill too. That's why

I refuse to join them. They sell insurance and have an aim to fatten their fingers in this pie.

[Riley18]

8. My mom cancelled her membership when AARP endorsed something Bush

wanted to do with Medicare.

[LostinVA]

25. Mine did the same thing (she's a nurse)

[Ernesto]

15. When they started sleeping with bush

I sent my card back to them........

[UTUSN]

18. Many of us here, along with thousands, dropped it during Shrub's Medicare fiasco

The AARP top guy at that time was the one responsible for the Harry and Louise commercials.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Good to hear. Thought maybe I was the only one sending back my card.

I got AARP 13 years ago, not knowing that much about them.
Used discounts twice, for hotel rooms, that was it. At the time the membership was 8.00 I think.

And the junk mail started flying in.
When ever i sign up for something, I use their initials in the sign up name
so I was "DixieARP....Smith" and can always tell who puts me on a mailing list initially.
And what to throw away unopened.

[rustydog]

21. A law needs to be passed mandating AARP change its name,

AARP is not the American Association of Retired Persons. it is the American Association of Insurance Scammers targeting retired and soon-to-be retired persons.

AARP used to be an advocacy group that now is an umbrella group that sells insurance,Period. Nothing else.

They are crooks making a buck off of hard working Americans.

[Cleita]

22. AARP is corporate and right wing.

They were instrumental in getting the disastrous, Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit for seniors passed. They probably mixed the Kool-Aid themselves.

[LostinVA]

23. AARP isn't what it used to be -- it's a corporate shill THAT SELLS PRIVATE INSURANCE

They also endorsed Bushie's Medicare drug scam and privatizing SS scheme, too.

It used to be a great organization, but now it sucks. My mom cancelled her and my dad's memberships.

[Canuckistanian]

27. Bankruptcies from health care costs are also "uniquely American"

"Pre-existing condition" is another "uniquely American" idea.

Outright denial of care is "uniquely American", too.

Bad selling point using "uniquely American". It doesn't automatically mean good.

[Vinca]

28. I hate AARP. Every time they send me their pitch I race to the shredder with it.

[Joanne98]

29. I hate insurance companies.

[spanone]

30. that's called status-quo....unacceptable

[kenny blankenship]

31. AMERICAN! hellz yeah!

But wait, wasn't the smoking shit heap of a system that we had before, and must now replace, uniquely American? Nobody else in the advanced world used it.

[earth mom]

32. AARP is a piece o'crap. Wish hubby had never subscribed to those a$$holes.

They are still sending us their junk mail! :grr:

[Mira]

34. WOULD YOU BELIEVE that I tore up the membership card less than an hour ago?

They are practically good for nothing, self serving, insurance peddling frauds.
K & R - good and necessary thread, dixiegrrrrl.