AARP Effort To "Keep Medicare Fair" Moves To High Gear - New Television Spots And Direct Mail Begin Nationwide This Week

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 07 May 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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AARP (American Association for Retired Persons) this week launches a new round of grassroots outreach and advertising throughout the country as a part of its effort to Keep Medicare Fair. During the month of May, television spots will run inside the Beltway and in select markets, urging Americans to tell Congress it must Keep Medicare Fair when it addresses the program this spring. AARP will also launch an online advertising campaign, print ads in major market newspapers and a direct mail blitz of more than 200,000 pieces.

"Our members are fired up about keeping Medicare fair," said AARP Vice President Elaine Ryan. "AARP's early outreach showed a tremendous amount of support for the effort, and we expect this latest round of media and grassroots outreach to send a clear message to lawmakers. It's time to stop piling premium increases on to the people who rely on Medicare."

This June, Congress will decide whether to again increase Medicare premiums to cover the cost of paying doctors more. Congress has continually instituted temporary "patches" to the currently flawed physician payment system. And each time, premiums for people in Medicare have gone up even higher. The latest temporary fix will expire on June 30, 2008, and if Congress decides to merely patch the problem again-without protecting premiums from yet another increase-people in Medicare will see their premiums rise even further.

Since the beginning of AARP's effort in March, the Association has collected more than 180,000 signatures from its online petition, and AARP members have placed more than 18,000 calls to Senate offices. The new ads and direct mail point viewers to a toll-free hotline and the effort's web site, KeepMedicareFair.org.

AARP's latest television spot will appear beginning this week inside the Beltway on Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, Meet the Press and This Week. It will also run during news and public affairs programming in local markets throughout the country. Print ads will run in several major market newspapers nationwide.

AARP's latest television spot can be viewed at http://www.keepmedicarefair.org.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 33 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 39 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, http://www.AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

American Association for Retired Persons