Fred L. Goldenberg: AARP advocacy or cash cow - Traverse City Record Eagle

Goldenberg

Like many of you, I am a card-carrying member of AARP. When I turned 50, I received my AARP card in the mail. At first I was insulted. Who were they to decide I was a "senior" and indiscriminately send out a membership card without my requesting one?

Now 22 years later, it's still in my wallet. Why? Because the first weekend I got the card, I went to the movies with my wife and when I bought the tickets, the pimply faced kid asked if I was a senior. With my new AARP card in hand, I said "yes." We received a senior discount on those tickets, and I was hooked from then on.

Over the last 22 years, I've used my AARP card to receive discounts on everything from car rentals, dinners out and almost every other commodity you can name. The number of products and services AARP has attached its name to is almost too many to count, which is a wonderful benefit.

But there is one aspect of AARP "endorsements" that is very questionable. According to their 2020 financial statement, which is the latest one available, AARP received $300 million in dues from its 38 million members. In the same time period, according to its IRS filing, it received just over $1 billion in "royalties" — over three times the amount the collected from its membership. Of the royalties they received, $752 million were from unnamed "health products and services."

I'm not shy. The name of the company selling those health products and services to AARP's 38 million members is United Healthcare. Many of you reading this have a United Healthcare card with the AARP logo right at the top in bright red letters.

United Healthcare advertises that it's the only company endorsed by AARP. That's actually a little disingenuous. Under the AARP brand, UnitedHealth has been offering Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage health benefits and Medicare Part D drug benefits since 1997. AARP receives a 4.95% fee for each plan sold and has received over $4 billion to date. The partnership will continue through at least 2025.

I wanted to see if I could find some verbiage that told me that United Healthcare paid AARP for the use of its name. I got a copy of the October 2023 AARP Bulletin and found the ad for AARP Medicare from UnitedHealthcare. In the ad it states "AARP has chosen to brand United Healthcare Medicare plans as the only Medicare plans with the AARP name, for more than 20 years. These plans stand for quality, value, and customer service."

What it didn't say was that United Healthcare has paid billions of dollars for it to be "chosen" by AARP. But buried in the disclaimer below the ad, in 8-point type, was "United Healthcare Insurance Company pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. AARP and its affiliates are not insurers."

I totally agree that AARP and its affiliates are not insurers, but I can also guarantee that when an AARP United Healthcare policy holder is asked what plan they have, they will respond "I have the AARP" plan, not United Healthcare. I say this because it happens several times a week in my office.

I love going to Denny's for a Grand Slam breakfast and getting my AARP discount. What I don't appreciate is AARP lobbying on Medicare issues and policies while racking in billions of dollars from the partnerships with those marketing Medicare products to we seniors.

There is a distinct difference between receiving billions of dollar in compensation and providing a discount to services, such as travel and restaurants, as a benefit to your members. But when you hold yourself out as a senior advocacy organization and advocate on the one thing that makes you a ton of money, one begins to question your motivation and loyalty.

Side note: please remember we're in the middle of the Annual Enrollment Period. It's time to review your current Medicare plan and determine what's right for you in 2024. You only have until Dec. 7. So don't delay.