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Backlash against AARP; seniors quitting, moving membership

The New York Times reports on "a mini-mutiny at AARP" — the older-Americans advocacy group that has angered many of its members by supporting an overhaul of the U.S. health care system.

Between 50,000 and 60,000 AARP members [out of 40 million] have left the organization since July 1, a spokesman for the group said.

Many of the defectors have destroyed their AARP cards and are switching to a relatively new group called American Seniors Association, which bills itself as the conservative alternative to AARP....

In explaining A.S.A.'s opposition to a health care overhaul, Stuart Barton, the group's president, wrote on Monday that "a government-run plan would limit patient-doctor choice," that "an employer mandate would kill jobs and lower wages," and that a new plan would require higher taxes and Medicare cuts that hurts baby boomers and seniors.

The A.S.A. is appealing directly to disaffected AARP members, urging them to cut or tear up their AARP cards and join A.S.A. at a discount....

Jim Dau, a spokesman for AARP, said in an interview that while AARP took such rebellions seriously, it had endured them before. In 2003, it lost 70,000 to 80,000 members over its support for a Medicare prescription drug program. In 2005, the organization lost 8,000 to 10,000 members for opposing efforts to privatize Social Security....

In SMI's September 2007 issue, we highlighted six organizations for seniors that are alternatives to AARP.

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