AARP has always publicly stated that it does not support one political candidate or ideology over an opponent. The lobby, which boasts over 40 million members, appears to be balking on that notion, at least in terms of its body language. The AARP, which was solidly pro-Bush with respect to the issues that were central to the passage of the MMA^[1] in 2003, appears to be benefiting from the Democrats’ policymaking ideals with Obama at the helm.

Last week, the group expressed concern over the Senate-blocked attempt to avert Medicare (and, by extension, Medicare Advantage [MA]) payment cuts to physicians. The AARP had hoped to influence Democratic senators to prevent such a move because so much of its constituency stands to benefit from programs — many of them AARP endorsed — covered by Medicare and MA.

Calling such maneuvers “backroom deals”, top Republican House leaders are demanding regulation of the lobby — much in the mold of recent moves by Democrats to regulate bona fide insurance companies as part of the health reform overhaul. This statement by the Republicans appears to be supporting a tone of collusion with the Democrats — something which the AARP denies, of course. The irony of this entire scenario is, perhaps, its most interesting quality: Republicans want to use the lobby’s majority membership (the elderly Medicare beneficiary) essentially to counter that very organization. A pretty bold divide-and-conquer move, don’t you think? | LINK

1. The Medicare Modernization Act, which, among other things, produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health program’s (at that time) 38-year history. [↩]

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