AARP not happy with Bush cuts to Medicaid.

AARP officials Thursday criticized the Bush administration’s proposed Medicaid cuts and said they do not support the president’s legislative solutions for reducing the rising costs of healthcare.

At a briefing at AARP headquarters, several top-ranking officials with the consumer advocacy group said they were concerned that Congress will call for major cuts in Medicaid and vowed to oppose them strongly.

The comments suggest that AARP — a close Bush ally during the Medicare prescription-drug debate — will be a formidable foe on Medicaid cuts. AARP has also lambasted the president’s plan to reform Social Security.

AARP, along with the American Health Care Association, the Service Employees International Union and others sent a letter to Congress yesterday urging lawmakers to reject the president’s $60 billion in proposed cuts to Medicaid.

AARP, like the National Governors Association, contends that states are not recklessly managing Medicaid — as some critics have alleged.

The group also criticized the administration’s health savings account (HSA) programs, saying that they would lead to a bifurcated healthcare system. AARP official John Luehrs said HSAs, which were included in the 2003 drug bill, will basically only help wealthy consumers. [Of course they will; this is what they were designed to do.]

(3-3-05, The Hill.)