Monday, May 23, 2011

Even AARP now has a waiver for ObamaCare

The Obama administration is continuing to hand out waivers to ObamaCare, its signature piece of legislation.  That’s some 1400 waivers so far.  But let’s focus on just one now, as reported by Investors Business Daily – now we find that AARP, perhaps the largest lobbyist in favour of this national health care bill, has received a waiver too.
So you can add AARP to the list of favored unions, corporations, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's constituents and even entire states such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Nevada that have received exemptions or waivers from various requirements of ObamaCare.
AARP won’t admit to the term ‘lobbyist’ but it did spend a large chunk on the $121 million advertising campaign to push passage of the bill.  Did it do so because it has the best interests of seniors in its heart?  Consider this – how does AARP make its money?  Subscription rates & membership dues?  Not by a long shot.  As a business, AARP exists primarily to sell supplemental health insurance, or ‘Medigap’ insurance – to make up for the gap between what the government will pay, & what seniors feel is adequate insurance coverage.  AARP stands to make a killing on ObamaCare, & even more so now that it won’t be burdened by the cost of adopting a plan that it lobbied hard to have passed.
That report also documented how ObamaCare would produce a billion-dollar windfall for AARP by forcing millions of seniors to lose or drop their Medicare Advantage plans they were promised they could keep, plans that were the only real competition to the Medigap policies AARP provides or endorses for a fee.

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