The American Association of Retired People has a lot at stake with a potential health insurance reform bill. Until now, the organization for aging Americans has stayed on the sidelines, but now reports are the AARP has decided to back the House version of the health insurance reform bill, a coup for Democrats.
No official announcement has been made yet, but sources with knowledge of the groups decision say an announcement is expected Thursday. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the endorsement is not official yet.
AARP has 40 million members, all over 50. However, they are not all liberal. In fact, AARP says its membership is about evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Additionally, retirees are concerned that passage of any sort of health insurance reform would require Medicare cuts. It's possible that backing the House health insurance reform bill will anger some of AARP's membership.
Meanwhile, after final tweaks to the legislation were applied on Tuesday night, the clock started counting down toward a floor vote. House Democratic leaders had agreed to allow 72 hours of review before bringing the full bill to the floor. This could open debate on the bill Friday or Saturday.
One of the changes to the bill made prior to Tuesday included strengthening a provision that would strip the insurance industry of its decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws. Additionally, the revised House bill would crack down on what it terms "unjustified premium increases."
Under the terms of the bill, health insurance companies would have to justify premium increases before they go into effect. Health and Human Services (HHS) would monitor premium increases, and have the ability to act if the price increases are deemed unreasonable.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the chamber's second-ranking Democrat after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), said Wednesday that the bill would probably come to a final vote Saturday.
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