This week the AARP fired off an open letter in support of Barack Obama's health care plan to Harry "The Bill won't work in Nevada" Reid. Look for AARP president and longtime Obama crony Barry Rand to get an ambassadorship after all this.
Dear Leader Reid:Thank you for your commitment—and that of Chairmen Baucus and Dodd—to closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap or “doughnut hole” by 2019 during the upcoming House-Senate conference committee on health reform legislation. We understand, given Senate constraints, that this action must wait until conference.As you know, millions of seniors are being overwhelmed by skyrocketing out-of-pocket drug costs. Too many are going without the drugs they desperately need, which can lead to more serious health problems and higher long-term costs—both for them and for our health care system as a whole. In Nevada alone, 12 percent of those enrolled in Part D fall into the doughnut hole every year. For these reasons, closing the coverage gap is a critical element of health reform and will help to constrain costs throughout the system....With your commitment to closing the doughnut hole in conference, consistent with the President’s pledge, and the many positive features referenced above, AARP is pleased to support your efforts to obtain cloture, and urges timely passage of this legislation by the Senate.
The current health care bill does extend Medicare Part D coverage to seniors of a certain income level not already covered, known as the "doughnut hole." But it also slashes spending on Medicare to pay for Obama's government takeover of the rest of the health industry.
So why is the AARP in full support of a bill that essentially redistributes money from seniors to younger people? Maybe it's because they received $18 million in stimulus money, the seventh largest sum in Washington, DC. Maybe it's because AARP president Rand is a big Obama donor with close ties to the president. Either way, it looks like the AARP has been completely bought off.
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