SENTIDO > OPINION

ALSO VISIT

RETIREMENT LOBBY LOBBIES FOR THE UNRETIRED
Should AARP change its name? Should retirees form new lobby?
Joseph Robertson | 26 November 2003

The last week has seen a backlash of protest and dismay against the AARP, lobby for retired people. The blow-up revolved around AARP support for a Medicare bill which many critics say will directly harm elderly Americans in need of medical care. The AARP went so far as to run ads urging its members to encourage their Representatives to support the bill. The problem was that polling shows that a majority of seniors did not support the changes to Medicare proposed by this bill.

AARP has said it supported the bill because "boomers"—middle-aged Americans between 45 and 65—supported the privatization "experiment" the bill represents. These AARP members are not actually "retired people", and this bill marks a departure in which the lobby seems to have overlooked the perceived interests of its traditional constituency, in order to court new and future members, whose interests may at present differ greatly from those of actual retirees.

The bill, as passed, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, will remove Medicaid assistance from people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. Concerns have emerged among conservative and liberals that effective and popular state-run programs, designed to fill gaps in the federal health care system, will be undercut or overridden by provisions in the new bill.

Without getting into all of the details of the bill, it seems necessary above all to address the betrayal that appears to be felt by AARP members across the nation. A lot of members are turning in their membership cards, demanding refunds of their dues, and organizing a boycott of the lobby. The bill is not purely political, and it is not a truly partisan issue. Members of both parties voted in favor, and members of both parties voted against. So it is clear that the AARP stood important ground in measuring and publicizing the viability of this bill.

The reasons given by officials at the AARP for their reliance on the public opinion of younger members point to a marketing motive. It may well be that this motivation meshes with a general view that by expanding the fundraising capabilities of the AARP, all members will benefit from its increased lobbying clout. But when the traditional membership, the named constituency, finds itself at such odds with a group that is supposed to lobby for its interests, the question must seriously be addressed as to whether a new lobby should be organized that would distinguish between the perception of retirement needs by the unretired and the actual needs of retirees, who have helped to build the nation, the system and the economy at large.