AARP Medicare Supplements Make Money
The AARP recently announced they are supporting the idea of a government run health care system according to the article “Why Has the AARP Sold Out Its Members on Healthcare” by Al Ritter for the Baltimore Conservative Examiner. This is interesting because the AARP is a self declared non-partisan group.
In 2008 AARP made about $653 million in royalties from insurance companies that sold products referred by AARP. This is huge considering membership fees only brought in about $249 million that same year. Seniors have two main choices for Medicare supplement insurance plans, Medicare Advantage and Medigap. Medigap supplemental insuranceis endorsed by the AARP and they receive royalties from the company. With Medicare Advantage health plans at risk with the new health care proposal, the hope is that more people will purchase Medigap and therefore AARP will make more money.
Section 1161 of the House bill cuts payments to the government run Medicare Advantage health plan which is used by about 20% of senior citizens. It may cause them to lose some of their benefits such as health, vision and dental coverage and this is why they may be forced to purchase AARP Medicare Supplements.
