AARP
An Analysis of Current Policies
AARP is a non governmental interest group whose mission is, “AARP is dedicated to enhancing quality of life for all as we age. We lead positive social change and deliver value to members through information, advocacy and service” (AARP, 1). Therefore, the foundation includes a variety of resources for such things as retirement, grandparenting and reverse mortgages. AARP also offers advice about money, family life and health issues. It is a valuable resource for those approaching retirement as well as those that have already gained senior citizen status. AARP is one of the most powerful non profit interest groups in the United States and its membership is expected to grow significantly as baby boomers reach retirement age.
AARP has over thirty-nine million members and is the leading non profit organization for citizens over age fifty in the United States (AARP, 1). Membership in AARP is open to any citizen age fifty or over and U.S. citizenship is not required to join. AARP currently has approximately forty thousand members that are not U.S. citizens (AARP, 1). AARP was founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a retired high school principal. It evolved from the National Retired Teachers Association which Andrus established to promote her ideas of healthy ageing. Andrus also approached many health insurance agencies until she found one willing to insure older Americans as Medicare didn’t come into being until 1965. Over time, Andrus created many other programs designed to assist older Americans (AARP, 1). Currently AARP has three main principles that are followed even as Andrus’s original policies grow and change. These are: 1) To promote independence, dignity and purpose for older persons; 2) To enhance the quality of life for older persons; and 3) To encourage older people “To serve, not to be served” (AARP, 1). Finally, the main goal that AARP has is through its Public Policy Institute, it inform and stimulates public debate on the issues that people face as they age (Kassner, 2).
One important policy that AARP currently deals with is that of Medicaid. A major focus is placed on older adults because they become eligible to receive Medicaid benefits when they reach age sixty-five (Kassner, 1). A report conducted by the AARP Public Policy Institue looked specifically at what individual states have been able to accomplish under current Medicaid law as well as the impact that federal mandates have on states’ ability to balance service delivery (Kassner, 1). Colorado is a good example of how AARP is working with Medicaid to ensure benefits for older Americans. Colorado was one of the first states to receive federal approval for a Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS) waiver in the 1980s (Kassner, 2). This means that older Americans who live in their own homes rather than in nursing homes may be eligible for Medicaid benefits. Therefore, the work that AARP is doing with regards to lobbying and pushing for initiatives surrounding Medicaid policy is benefitting more and more older Americans each year.
AARP also advocates for older Americans to be able to be involved in each step of the Medicaid process (Edwards, 1). This is because there are many benefits of Medicaid for AARP members including expansion of home and community based services but there are many drawbacks as well. These include such issues as imposing new costs and cutting benefits which may harm AARP members and restrict their access to Medicaid benefits (Edwards, 1). This is why AARP is currently promoting Medicaid policy so strongly. AARP sees the benefits but more importantly the drawbacks of Medicaid on the ageing population in the United States.
In addition, AARP is promoting policy that allows the general public to participate in Medicaid reform. Currently, opportunities for public participation are not always available. To this end, AARP has developed three guidelines that they are promoting as part of their policy of allowing the public to have some say in Medicaid reform. These are 1) make all proceedings transparent; 2) create opportunities that are meaningful and predictable; and 3) make available accurate, objective and timely information (Edwards, 1). To further their efforts to push this policy, AARP officials have objected to the methods their states currently use to announce proposed Medicaid changes. Often, the changes that are made to Medicaid have a direct impact on older Americans but they are usually not able to access the information detailing the changes very easily. In addition, during the course of public hearings, Medicaid officials failed to answer questions and respond to comments made during the hearing which made these hearings irrelevent (Edwards, 1).
AARP goes further to state that by the time the public became aware of proposed changes it was too late to comment as Medicaid officials had already decided their course of action. This is why AARP is pushing their public involvement policy so hard. They believe that good changes regarding Medicaid only come about with the input of the public – the very people who use Medicaid benefits. In order to maximize the opportunities for public participation, AARP feels that the public should have easy access to program notices, public comments, waiver documents and final approval. Their recommendation is that these items be put on state sponsored web sites (Edwards, 1).
AARP feels that the federal government should have some responsibility for creating opportunites for meaningful public participation. They recommend that the federal government push Congress to establish minimum standards for public participation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should require each state to document its public participation policy. Changes in waiver requests should seek additional public comment. Medicaid should seek to involve Medical Care Advisory Committees (MCAC) in all policy changes that directly affect consumers. Finally, CMS should post all applications for change on the Internet (Edwards, 1).
AARP also recommends that public participation policies should include action from state governments as well. They suggest that the public be informed when a state intends to develop a waiver that affects Medicaid benefits. The state should also create opportunities for public comment before a waiver is filed, during negotiations and before implementing the changes. The public must also be given enough details about the waiver so they are not required to use a Freedom of Information Act to get the information they need. State Medicaid agencies should post all documents on state sponsored web pages. Finally, states need to increase the number of opportunities available for the public to give input about changes to Medicaid (Edwards, 1).
AARP believes strongly in promoting policies that allow Medicaid participants to make comments and ask questions about proposed changes to their Medicaid benefits as well as issues of implementation. AARP realizes that older Americans need to have the power to control their health, retirement and well being and Medicaid benefits play a large role in having that control. To this end, AARP is promoting the policy that federal government as well as state governments make public participation easily accessible by advertising policy hearings and posting required documents on the internet. AARP is working closely with its members in order to successful lobby and advocate for these changes that will allow older Americans to actively participate in changes to Medicaid that will affect their benefits and quality of life. In living up to its mission, AARP is working to enhance the quality of live as well as lead positive social change in order to deliver value to its members thorough advocacy. Pushing for better public involvement is one policy they are currently working on in order to deliver on their mission.
AARP. (2008). AARP History. AARP.org. Retrieved on November 3, 2008 from
http://www.aarp.org/about_aarp/aarp_overview/a2003-01-13-aarphistory.html#.
Edwards, Barbara Coulter. (2007). Give people a chance to speak up on changes made to
Medicaid. AARP Public Policy Institute. Retrieved on November 3, 2008 from
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/inb148_medicaid.pdf.
Kassner, Enid. (2008). A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform. AARP Public Policy
Institute. Retrieved on November 3, 2008 from
http://www.aarp.org/research/assistance/medicaid/2008_10_ltc.html.
