Minbox is a tool designed specifically for people who need to quickly - and cheaply - share extra large files. Although a number of tools have been created to help people share smaller documents online - with Dropbox being the most popular of the bunch - people who needed to share RAW photos and expanded video files have been out of luck until recently. Terry Wilcox is the executive director of Patients Rising and the co-host of the “Patients Rising” podcast, a weekly show aimed at bringing the patient voice to health policy.Email attachments just don’t cut it when it comes to quickly sharing extremely large files. Today the organization is supporting policies that will lead to barer medicine cabinets tomorrow. But as a major beneficiary of insurance industry profits, it’s hard to see how it can represent its members fairly. At the same time, it opposes letting consumers count cash rebates from pharmaceutical companies toward their insurance plan deductibles - a policy that would help patients but hurt insurers.ĪARP presents itself as a champion for older Americans, and in some respects, it has been. Yet AARP has spoken favorably about the Build Back Better drug pricing plan. Any one of those medicines could be a cure for Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes - or any of the dozens of other ailments that disproportionately plague seniors. Moreover, a study by a University of Chicago economist estimated that an earlier version of the drug pricing bill would prevent up to 342 new drugs from being invented over the next two decades. Analysts at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office have evaluated several proposed price-cap measures and concluded that they would slightly decrease the development of new treatments and reduce access to many advanced medicines. Research and development budgets would quickly shrink. Specifically, the price caps would slash drug company revenue, dismantling their business model in one fell swoop.
And they could have a devastating impact on seniors. Unfortunately, though, the drug pricing measures in the bill are not designed to actually save money for patients. It would also save insurers billions of dollars - both by making medicines cheaper for those that sponsor Medicare drug plans and by giving the companies more leverage to demand lower drug prices for their other plans as well. One such change would allow the government to impose price controls on prescription drugs - a move that’s expected to save the federal government about $160 billion over a decade.
The bill would make a host of sweeping changes to Medicare, the federal health insurance program which serves some 60 million seniors. This may account for the organization’s support of the $2 trillion Build Back Better Act. That means AARP has a vested interest in insurance companies getting their way in policy debates, regardless of the outcome for seniors. More than 10 million seniors hold health plans just through AARP’s partnership with insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, according to a recent report from the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. Millions of Americans trust the AARP name, making these insurance plans highly popular. AARP gets paid every time one of its members signs up for one of these branded policies. About 45% - $752 million - came from deals between the organization and insurance companies to sell AARP-branded plans. This potential for conflict of interest has become starkly visible in recent months, as Congress seeks to pass drug pricing measures that would hurt seniors - and help insurers.ĪARP earned $1.7 billion in revenue last year. And while sometimes the interests of insurance companies and seniors align, at times they don’t. The problem is that the organization is dependent on revenue from insurance companies. When it comes to one of AARP’s signature products, though, it may not always be putting its members first. From lobbying for better conditions in nursing homes to getting travel discounts for members, the organization has done much to help retired people over the years. It has aboutģ8 million members - more than 11% of the U.S. AARP is the nation’s biggest and most influential advocacy group for seniors.
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