AARP on Health Care reform

As your recent editorial ("End Medicare Myths," Aug. 12) makes clear, fixing what's wrong with health care is far too important to be derailed by scare tactics perpetuated by special interest groups who will benefit from the status quo.

What is the status quo? Insurance companies denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and charging people unaffordable premiums because of their age. Layoffs leaving people without health insurance. More and more seniors who can't afford the medications they need to stay healthy and can't find a doctor willing to take Medicare patients.

You may have heard the myth that health care reform means socialized medicine. Not true. Health care reform will preserve the employer-based health care system, meaning an estimated 175 million Americans will continue to get their coverage through their employers. Every proposal that Congress is considering would allow people to choose their own doctors and hospitals.

Or how about the scare tactic that health care reform will allow the government to make end-of-life decisions for you? Absolutely false. Reform will not give the government the power to make end-of-life decisions for anyone, regardless of age. Those decisions will be made by individuals with their families and their doctors. No one, including the government or your insurance company, will be given power to make end-of-life decisions for you.

People need to hear the good things that will happen when we pass real reform. AARP is calling on Congress to guarantee that all Americans have a choice of dependable, affordable health insurance plans and preserve your choice of doctors who can work with you to make the best possible health care decisions for you and your family.

We believe health care reform must fix what's wrong and preserve what's right. Reform must strengthen and improve Medicare, protect people's choice of doctor and insurance plans, and guarantee dependable, affordable coverage.

AARP believes health care is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It's not about political gamesmanship. It's about people's lives.

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The AARP, a national association of people 50 and older, supports the health care overhaul. Here is its take on two key issues.

Myth: Health care reform means rationed care.

Myth: Health care reform means the government can make life-and-death decisions for you.

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Health Care Reform Taking Shape

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A. Barry Rand, AARP CEO on Where We Stand: Health Reform Now