GOP says AARP isn't serious about Medicare reform

The nation's largest seniors' lobby is not seriously at the table in the debate over Medicare, Republican lawmakers said Thursday.

While ostensibly opening a dialogue about how to address Medicare's financial woes, Republicans from both the House and Senate implicitly criticized AARP for its opposition to several Medicare proposals.

"Unfortunately, as long as politicians obscure the Medicare program's prognosis for political benefit and stakeholders like AARP fail to publicly challenge these political calculations by educating their membership on the structural financing challenges facing the program, a national conversation about how best to save the Medicare program will not move forward," the letter states.

AARP opposes privatizing Medicare, as proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). It has also come out against proposals that would make seniors foot the bill for a larger share of their Medicare benefits.

Democrats are campaigning hard on Medicare, buoyed by opposition to Ryan's plan. And AARP is largely on the same page. But the Republican doctors said AARP should have a stronger focus on Medicare's looming insolvency. The Congressional Budget Office projected this week the Medicare trust fund will run out within the next 10 years.

"We know that AARP has opposed some Medicare reform proposals in the past, but we are focused on the future and want to know what specific proposals — in concrete details — AARP would support to protect its members and the Medicare program," the lawmakers wrote.