[QUOTE=getdul981;841030]I was a member of AARP, but also dropped them when they became anti gun and they still send us the magazine. I don't even bother to read it. We get mail offering life insurance and I think, car insurance. We have United Healthcare as a supplement to our Medicare. Initially, it had no affiliation with AARP, but somewhere along the line, it has become affiliated. I would prefer that it was not affiliated with AARP, but I'm not going to change my supplemental because it seems to be what is best for us.[/QUOTE]

The reason it is best for you is because AARP negotiated the package on behalf of its membership. I was with New York Life when we negotiated with AARP to underwrite their life insurance plans and they got concessions and provisions we did not offer through any other outlet. AARP does a great job negotiating on behalf of its members.

I joined AARP when I turned 50. It was through their magazine that I learned about Hip Resurfacing. I was scheduled to have a bilateral Hip Replacement at age 55 but thankfully was introduced to the resurfacing by the article in the magazine and had said operation later that year. Do I agree with all of their political leanings? No. But I also don't agree with the leanings of all newspapers that I read but I subscribe to them anyway because I am a physical paper junkie lol. I trust myself to read both sides of an issue and come to a reasonable conclusion. I would equate joining AARP to buying a subscription to a newspaper or magazine. It's a personal choice with no right or wrong.

When it comes to insurance company profits thru government sponsored insurance like Medicare and Tricare, I think we all would agree about such profitability, and it should not become a partisan topic.

My point is this: To say that the political leanings of AARP d.b.a. United Healthcare "do not matter" is to say that.....

...their lobbying money and power and push for single payer "government" healthcare "does not matter"......

.....even though THEY, AARP-UHC would likely be the "single payer", making unfathomable profits from it.

They're almost the public-sector plans' "single-payer" already, profiting off their sales of Medicare, Medicaid, federal, state and local government employee healthcare plans, and even Tricare plans for veterans.

Elizabeth Edwards, rest in peace, understood and voiced extremely well the problem with UHC in this interview, where she speaks about healthcare at the 2 minute mark.

She also stated a clear distinction that needs to be made between government-run and UHC-run, but that concept apparently died with her, bless her soul......

See video at 2-minute mark:

Elizabeth Edwards: President of United Health Care Made Almost $3 Billion a Few Years Ago"

Elizabeth Edwards - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 05/20/09 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

I hate AARP's political position... I joined years ago and never renewed however I still have auto insurance through AARP Hartford. Hartford is a great company and no one beats their price.

The power of advertising gets the best of many of us. We think not but it does. AARP has has hammered so hard on the fact that they represent the interests of retired persons but their actions speak otherwise.

Its the same with BBB. They mean well but they are totally ineffective.

Both organizations hurt in another sense in that they offer false positives; meaning most people are better off going it alone

When I left AARP I enrolled with AMAC. The moment I saw they were also advertising for insurance products I stopped

I am tired of being treated as if I just fell out of a tree by organizations such as this, politicians, corporation and the public sector. They do not even make an attempt to cover up their insincerity any longer

AARP does not "advertise for insurance products". They use their massive membership to negotiate rates and provisions for their benefit. The New York Life plans offered through AARP are not offered through any other venue, they were specifically developed with input from AARP. You can belong to any organization you care to, but I think the political objections to AARP are overly reactionary. Interesting that several people say they like the AARP insurance programs (which were negotiated on members behalf) but don't like AARP. As they say - membership has its privileges.

Hi coach: I beg to differ with you I have seen them advertise on television, in magazines, etc. usually in the form of endorsements such as with UHC
You can label it overly reactionary, plain stupid or whatever you like but when I recognized that my dues were being used to advance their agenda and not "the people's" interest it made it clear that I was wasting my money

Personal Best Regards:

I totally agree with what you have stated and do even more after reading the following Forbes article. It's quite an eye opener:

How the AARP Made $2.8 Billion By Supporting Obamacare's Cuts to Medicare - Forbes

Does not advertise for insurance products??

"According to AARP's 2008 Consolidated financials, it was paid $652,000,000 in royalties from insurance companies that sold products referred by AARP.

AARP also received an additional $120,000,000 for the advertisements placed in its publications."

......Health insurance

Approximately seven million people have AARP branded health insurance, including drug coverage and Medigap, as of April 2007 and AARP earns more income from selling insurance to members than it does from membership dues.
......

...AARP will likely become the largest source of health insurance for Medicare recipients, and AARP estimates the new products will increase its health insurance customers to 14 million by 2014.

AARP is not an insurer and does not pay insurance claims. Instead, AARP allows its name to be used by insurance companies in the sale of insurance products, for which it is paid a commission like an insurance agent.

Senator Charles E. Grassley... Senate Finance Committee, said in 2008 that the "limited benefit" insurance plans offered by AARP through UnitedHealth provided inadequate coverage and were marketed deceptively. One plan offered $5,000 for surgery that may cost two or three times that amount.......

AARP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia AARP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I find AARP publications very informative and have saved money with that information. I also have my car insurance (because its the best price) through AARP and my supplemental health insurance for the past six years because it is an excellent plan. None of the publications are "political" --- nothing like the comments in this thread.

I don't think anybody has said their insurance plans weren't well priced or were not good coverage/service.

What is being said in the thread is that:

- they make more (hundreds of) millions of dollars more from insurance advertising/sales/royalties than they do from membership dues;

- they profit in the hundreds of millions from government/taxpayer-sponsored insurance plans like Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, federal/state employee plans etc;

- those profits are always thought to be money that could be used to provide coverage to those who cannot get or afford it;

- those profits stand to increase hugely with the government giving them with United Healthcare even more "public" coverage contracts in the current reform. In fact, the "United Healthcare MEDICARE STORES" that opened here in TV illustrate that growth.

- it's the agenda in the background that's what's being discussed here....not "politics".

I don't think a single person here wants insurance companies to make even more profits at the expense of financing the programs that are supposed to get everyone covered affordably.

No, Ever wonder why they don't offer a life time membership? I let my membership expire and joined the NRA, better discounts.

By virtue of the fact that AARP inserts itself in the marketing/selling process of insurance it has in effect raised the cost of doing business and that cost is transferred to consumers.