AARP, widely trusted by seniors, and United Healthcare, widely reviled-an unholy alliance? An ordinary person’s disgust at how seniors are misled.

AARP, widely trusted by seniors, and United Healthcare, widely reviled-an unholy alliance? An ordinary person’s disgust at how seniors are misled.

How many seniors assume that seeing the AARP name on an insurance product means they are getting the very best possible product, because AARP is working in seniors’ best interests? How many even bypass looking at other health insurance or supplemental insurance plans, feeling confident that the AARP name would not lead them astray?

Considering how convoluted and confusing the healthcare marketplace has become, it is easy to understand how exhausted and bewildered people are when they start perusing all of the dizzying options on the medicare.gov website. Many people don’t even bother to review their plan each year to see whether there might be a better plan which suits them.

So when a name trusted for its senior advocacy is linked to a particular health insurance company, what are AARP‘s responsibilities to their members, and to seniors generally? Particularly if the insurance company has completely misinformed AARP members, denying them coverage to which they have a bona fide right with guaranteed issue?

When a senior first signs up for Medicare, if they choose original Medicare as opposed to a Medicare Advantage plan, they have the right to sign up for supplemental insurance (a.k.a. a Medigap plan) to cover the 20% cost of what Original Medicare does not cover. As the 20% amount not covered by Original Medicare has no out-of-pocket maximum, if medical bills or hospitalizations are very costly, a person may be out-of-pocket for an exorbitant amount, which is why it is advisable to have a supplemental Medigap plan.

For those seniors who chose a Medicare advantage plan, instead of Original Medicare, they may find to their regret that while they may go back to original Medicare, in many if not most cases, they may no longer qualify for guaranteed issue, (which means that if they wish to get supplemental insurance/Medigap, the insurance companies can take  your previously existing conditions into account, charge a much higher rate, or deny you a Medigap policy outright.

Nearly everyone is aware that health insurance companies try to use previously existing conditions against you, but not everyone who is signing up for Medicare at the very beginning is aware that choosing a Medicare Advantage plan will change their options for supplemental insurance in the future. Medicare rules are varied and complex, and can be overwhelming for many seniors when first venturing into the Medicare arena.

However, there are some exceptions: if a Medicare Advantage  plan is discontinued, a person is granted the exception that they would would have when first signing up for Medicare, and can purchase a supplemental plan without any financial penalty or the ability for insurance companies to deny them that coverage. But for most people on Medicare Advantage plans, once you're on Medicare Advantage, you may be financially out of luck in finding a Medigap plan that you can afford, if an insurance company will sell you one at all.

So when I received a letter in 2025 informing me that my Medicare Advantage plan was being discontinued, after my initial dismay and shock, and after consulting my state’s marvelous local SHIP organization, I discovered that it was a blessing in disguise; an opportunity to go back to original Medicare, and be able to purchase a Medigap plan without having previously existing conditions taken into account.

I decided to call each insurance company providing supplemental Medicare insurance (Medigap plans) on the medicare.gov website, but when I called about the AARP/United Medigap plan, I was in for a big surprise.

United insisted that even though I had guaranteed issue, I would still be liable for underwriting, which is a euphemism for holding your medical history against you. This was entirely false, and entirely contradictory.

In 3 separate telephone calls, 3 separate United representatives told me this. They each told me that in my state, I could not purchase a part G Medigap plan from them, and that this was a Medicare rule.

When I finally pressed as to where they were reading this “Medicare rule”, it came out that they were referring to the materials that United gave them.

They tried to get me to sign up for a less expensive policy(and with less coverage), as though they were giving me a really good deal. But the catch with that is that once you have gone to a Medigap plan which has less coverage, you can never go back up to a Medigap plan with higher coverage along with guaranteed issue- it’s a permanent decision.- no do-overs. The AARP/United sales representatives certainly never mentioned that.

Had I been simply told this by one AARP/United sales representative, I might have thought they were simply in error, but when I called back two additional times, I was given the exact same misleading and untrue information. I don't blame the representatives who answer the calls for signing up for insurance; they are only telling people who call for information what United tells them.

So how many AARP members were affected by this? As I’m just an ordinary person, I have no way of knowing. Have AARP members trustingly swallowed whole what AARP/United representatives told them, and gotten a plan which will give them less coverage, and less coverage forever?

Why should I care? After all, I realized what was going on, and chose a different plan entirely. But it really bothered me that AARP members were being misinformed.

Three completely different United agents misinforming me is not a coincidence. They are basing what they tell people on the materials that UnitedHealthcare gives them.

It is a vile thing to do. It sticks in my craw that they are misleading people, and doing them real harm in the process.

Initially, I thought that AARP would want to know what United was doing, assuming that they were unaware of United’s behavior, and that they would care, because they would not want to have their name associated with a company who would treat AARP members so badly.

Boy, was I wrong. Just call me Little Bo Peep, but I thought AARP would actually care. Instead, I repeatedly got the brush off, the last thing I heard from an AARP representative was this:

"When you see AARP next to a product or service, it means that we show endorsement to these independent providers as benefits to AARP members. This AARP-branded product is not created or sold by AARP. “

What is AARP’s responsibility to their members when that insurance company misinforms their members, denying them Medigap plans to which they are legally entitled, and in a way that potentially could prevent AARP members from ever being able to sign up for Medigap plans with higher coverage?

Why did AARP show no interest whatsoever in how United Healthcare treats AARP members? This, perhaps…

AARP has received over $9 billion dollars, and that's billion with a B, for allowing United healthcare to use the AARP name for their insurance products. I did not know this until I decided to dig deeper.  Sigh…

What had begun as looking into whether or not United Healthcare was purposefully misleading AARP members, turned additionally into disillusionment with AARP itself, as they just don't seem to care about this issue.

Et tu, AARP?