HEALTH CARE: The AARP Tries to Soothe Fears of Medi-Scared Seniors

One of the great ironies of the health reform debate is that one of the groups that is most apprehensive about the drive to cover all Americans is the group that is already covered -- America's seniors. The AARP is gearing up its efforts to soothe their fears.

Another great irony is that the Republicans now casting themselves as the defenders of Medicare have for years pursued one version after another of radically changing the very nature of Medicare -- most recently, as Ron Brownstein in the National Journal pointed out, by voting for a House GOP budget this year that would have replaced Medicare's guarantees of coverage for the elderly and disabled with a voucher. 

Here's the real story that the AARP wants to get out: All Americans age 65 and up are covered by Medicare, and that won't change under health reform.

The changes being put forward in current health reform proposals are trying to do things like help more seniors pay for their medications and provide them with more access, at more affordable rates, to preventive care and screenings. They're trying to get seniors better coordinated care and better primary care so they won't have to go from one specialist to another without anyone keeping track of the whole patient. They're focusing on follow-up care and discharge planning for seniors when they're are hospitalized, so they don't bounce right back into the hospital.

With reform, doctors and hospitals will have incentives to provide better quality care, not just better quantity care. And that will save the system money -- which is essential because without changes Medicare's hospital trust fund will run out of money in less than 10 years. Meaning it will be there for today's beneficiaries and tomorrow's -- including those 50-64 year olds who now pay an awful lot for their health coverage, if they can get it at all.

But that's not what many seniors heard in the shouting this summer. After all, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, told them health reform means rationing and bureaucracy and "less power to control their own medical decisions." He twisted the goal of comparative effectiveness research -- to find out what drugs and treatments actually work best -- and turned into something that would morph into "government boards rationing treatments based on age." Throw in the "death panels" and it's no wonder that some seniors panicked. 

So the AARP is going to try to set them straight. You may have heard that the organization had lost 60,000 members over health reform. USA Today reports that in that same period, the organization (which is more than 40 million strong) also signed up 400,000 new members. So maybe not all seniors are scared...

Steps the AARP is taking include:

• A post-Labor Day direct-mail blast -- 8 million letters -- about health reform and Medicare.
• The September AARP Bulletin  has stories debunking health care myths.
• Town hall forums and tele-town halls will address concerns and misunderstandings about health reform proposals from the White House and Congress.
• National TV and Web ads. A multimillion-dollar ad campaign, which started in mid-August, will continue through Sept. 14, and plans are underway for a second set of ads to run this fall.

"There's clearly been an effort to scare people," USA Today quoted legislative director David Certner, referring to incorrect warnings issued by some Republicans, including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, of "death panels" that would cut off care for the elderly. "We've been spending a lot of time trying to dispel the myths. I think it has derailed the debate."

Remember that the Republicans who now call themselves the defenders of Medicare initially opposed its creation. More recently, in the past 10-15 years, they have championed "withering away" of Medicare, privatization of Medicare, more managed care for Medicare, and far deeper spending cuts in shorter time spans than the Obama administration proposes. (Spending cuts, in this context, doesn't mean that we'd be spending less than we spend now. We will be spending more... but the increase will be more gradual, adding fiscal life to the program.)

If the official facts and figures don't convince you, maybe the voices of real people will. The AARP has maps and story banks. Click around. They speak for themselves:

Dorothy P, from Austin, Texas, wrote:

I AM A 52 YEAR OLD GRANDMA WHO WORKS BUT BARELY MAKE ENOUGH TO COVER MY BILLS FROM PAYDAY TO PAYDAY MUCH LESS CAN AFFORD MEDICAL INSURANCE. I HAVE COPD, 5 HERNEIATED DISKS, DDD, DJD, SEVERE ARTHRITIS AND A DEFORMED BACK BONE FROM BIRTH. YES, I COULD CERTAINLY USE HEALTH CARE NOW! I ALSO HAVING MISSING FRONT TEETH THAT PREVENT ME FROM GETTING A BETTER JOB BUT DENTALS COSTS ARE WAY OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Or Toni F, from Madisonville, Tennessee: 

So when you hear foes of reform telling you that it's going to hurt Americans who have worked hard their whole lives -- tell them, they are already hurting. They don't need politics and rhetoric. They need help.