AARP on board with health care reform bill? No so fast, they say.

President Obama says AARP supports his health care reform plan, they disagree
President Barack Obama participates in an AARP tele-town hall on health care, Tuesday, July 28, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Obama held a town hall meeting sponsored by the AARP to answer questions regarding the health care reform bill on July 28, 2009. Yesterday, while the President was holding a rather tame town hall in New Hampshire, he made the reference to the AARP being on board, here is the President’s quote
“We have the American Medical Association on board. America's doctors and nurses know firsthand how badly we need reform. We have broad agreement in Congress on about 80 percent of what we're trying to do. We have an agreement from the drug companies to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. We can cut the doughnut hole in half if we pass reform. We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors.”

The only problem with President Obama’s comment, however, is that the AARP says they aren’t on board with the President’s health care reform bill, well not yet anyway.
A statement released by AARP Chief Operating Officer Tom Nelson reads,” AARP has been working with Democrats and Republicans to fix our broken health care system.

“While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.

“AARP supports specific measures that would help older Americans and their families – including bipartisan proposals to create a new follow-up care benefit in Medicare that would help prevent hospital re-admissions, as well as to address the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the ‘doughnut hole.’ We also support the need for lawmakers and the Administration to act this year to fix what doesn’t work in the health care system.

“We share the President’s commitment to act this year, and our members appreciate his insistence that any final reform package will not reduce Medicare benefits for the millions of people that literally depend on that program as a lifeline.

“We look forward to working with leaders of both parties, including the President, to build a final package we could endorse that addresses the concerns of the 50-plus population and brings quality, affordable health care choices to every American.”

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that President Obama didn’t mean anything untoward in his comment regarding the AARP’s support of the health care reform bill, he simply misspoke. The conversation between Robert Gibbs and a journalist transpired as such.

QUESTION Yesterday the President said AARP endorsed the plan. As you're aware, yesterday AARP said it hasn't endorsed a plan. Where on the information or disinformation scale would the President's remark fall?

ROBERT GIBBS: Well, the President said -- well, AARP has said they are certainly supportive and have been for years on comprehensive health reform. I don't think the President meant to imply anything untoward. I think he discussed the notion that AARP is supportive of -- or, I'm sorry, an agreement that would fund filling the doughnut hole for seniors as part of Medicare Part D, as well as additional savings for comprehensive health care reform.

QUESTION The President is doubtless aware AARP hasn't even endorsed the House pending committee legislation or the Senate legislation.

ROBERT GIBBS: Which is what I just said.

QUESTION Right. So he's aware of that. So he wasn't trying to mislead anyone --

ROBERT GIBBS: No, no.

QUESTION He just misspoke.

ROBERT GIBBS: Right.

QUESTION Is that something that can happen in this debate?

ROBERT GIBBS: That people can misspeak?

QUESTION Right, without intentionally meaning to mislead.

ROBERT GIBBS: Sure. I don't know if it's happened on certain subjects, but yes.

QUESTION Okay, so is -- within the range of this whole discussion, something can be wrong but not necessarily intentional misinformation is what I'm getting at.

ROBERT GIBBS: Yes. I think most of what the President has addressed, though, has been in many ways intentional misinformation.

QUESTION That he's been trying to correct; understood.

ROBERT GIBBS: Right.

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