“AARP has spent its lifetime...”
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Scamming the elderly...
Sadly, the AARP has become little more than a marketing scam for its big corporate financial sponsors — UnitedHealth and its wholly-owned OptumRx pharmacy business. Doing so has become quite lucrative: Research shows that in 2017, AARP received $627 million from UnitedHealth.
The AARP sells supplemental Medicare plans — including plans with an “AARP-sponsored” branding. However, instead of helping seniors select the plan that is most tailored to their needs or financial resources, the AARP exclusively sells Medigap coverage from UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest health insurer.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/3/aarp-is-just-a-for-profit-insurance-company/
AARP doesn’t actually represent the interests of its members. Rather, it reflects those of its corporate funders: UnitedHealth Group (UHG) — the nation’s largest health care insurance company — and UHG’s wholly owned subsidiary, OptumRx. Each year, those businesses provide AARP with nearly 40 percent of the organization’s entire operating budget, dwarfing the amount received from membership dues. And here’s the kicker: UHG’s subsidiary, OptumRx, is one of the country’s biggest PBMs.
Which, IIRC, AARP owns at least part of.
When we travel to visit relatives, we have found that in many places the “special rate” for AARP is higher than the regular rate and always higher than AAA. AARP seems to be an arm of the DNC.