Why AARP Sold Out Seniors

Printer-friendly versionSend by emailLast year, as the debate over a Medicare prescription-drug bill heated up, the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) sided with the Republican plan, which marked a major step toward the party's goal of privatizing Medicare and decimating employer-based health coverage. Why did AARP support the plan, which will cause millions of seniors to lose more generous employer and state-coordinated drug benefits while providing only limited help to others? Barbara T. Dreyfuss looks at the role played by William Novelli, who went from heading the Porter-Novelli PR firm to heading the AARP, thanks in part to conservative agitator Grover Norquist, whose "K Street Project" worked to help get him the job.