Medical Cellblock, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Donnie Nunley/Flickr.
AARP Asserts Political Neutrality, According to John Hishta, Senior Vice President. The Author of The American Medical Money Machine Sees a Very Different Story.
“Another Nail in The Coffin of Public Confidence and Trust,” says Author James R. Goldberg, who Wrote the Probing Account about Medical Tourism and the Degeneration of Healthcare in America.
(PRWEB) 16 October 2012
In a press conference today, James R. Goldberg, author of The American Medical Money Machine was discussed. “Goldberg points to a recently published October 4, 2012 Associated Press article and its remarkable implications,” said Alistair Henderson of Homunculus Publishers.
The AP article by Josh Lederman states, “AARP is reminding voters that it’s not endorsing any candidates… AARP’s senior vice president, John Hishta, says AARP is nonpartisan and has never consented to the use of its name by any campaign or political group and doesn’t take sides in political races.”
Goldberg would like to remind voters that, “the obfuscation being deployed by AARP misrepresents reality, according to the author, that Tom Daschle, former Speaker of the House and now, chief lobbyist for UnitedHealthcare, was retained by President Obama to guide Obamacare through the Congress and Senate.”
Goldberg said, “For example, Business Week, in August of 2009, reported that former Democratic senator Tom Daschle is once again working closely with UnitedHealth, one of the nation’s largest health insurance company. Daschle joined the law and lobbying firm, Alston & Bird. He advised UnitedHealth in 2007 and 2008 and resumed that role during the passage of Obamacare.”
Goldberg added, “AARP/UnitedHealthcare according to its own recent (as of October 12, 2012) television advertisements, touts the fact that its relationship with AARP goes back some 30 years. The relationship forged then, appears to involve, I allege, an exclusive marketing relationship whereby AARP receives, and continues to receive, royalties from UnitedHealthcare and its partners. AARP cannot now say that they are politically neutral when the historical facts and financial realities clearly tell another story.”
The author alleges that, “in 2008, UnitedHealthcare grossed approximately $70 billion, according to its Annual Report and contributed some $653 million, at least, to AARP’s annual budget of approximately $1.08 billion. This is according to AARP’s 2008 Annual Report Consolidated Operating Statement.”
Goldberg alleges, that “AARP’s operating 2008 budget of $1.08 billion was largely made up of royalties paid to it by insurance companies in addition to AARP receiving substantial Federal Aide, $90 million, and membership dues. What the operating statement of AARP of 2008 tells us is that approximately 65% to 75% of AARP’s budget comes from its dependence on insurance royalties.”
The author went on to say that “AARP, more than 40 million members strong, is about the same size as the Roman Catholic Church in the US. I allege, am informed and believe, that an exclusive relationship between AARP and UnitedHealthcare has resulted in AARP acting as a de-facto marketing arm for UnitedHealthcare. Their SEC reports substantiate this assertion beyond doubt.”
Goldberg alleges, “How can it be that AARP’s contention by John Hishta, as published by AP, is non-partisan while at the same time has had its closest partner, UnitedHealthcare’s chief lobbyist, Tom Daschle, shepherd the Affordable Healthcare Act, (Obamacare) through the Congress at the behest of the sitting President?”
The author of The American Medical Money Machine went on to say that, “I allege, that on the surface, the representation of AARP of being non-political is deceptive and not consistent with the known facts regarding Daschle’s influence in having played a key role in enabling Obamacare.”
Goldberg alleges that any “political move which would jeopardize the income flow of AARP through its royalty stream on which its life depends, will be met with extremely vigorous political opposition.”
“I believe and allege that the stance of political neutrality proffered by AARP is yet another nail in the coffin of public trust and confidence,” Goldberg hastened to add.
The author goes further by saying that according to Time magazine’s Special Report of 2012, entitled “The Biggest Golden Parachutes”, which Goldberg paraphrases and refers to as one of his many sources, “that during the 15-year tenure of William McGuire, Chairman and CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc., McGuire turned the regional health insurer into the second largest managed care company in the U.S. His reward was in the form of stock options—$1.6 billion of them.”
The author further states that Time magazine reported that “some of these options were taken on days the company’s stock price hit yearly lows, profiting when the stocks went up again. McGuire was asked to leave in October 2006 after Federal prosecutors and the IRS requested documents concerning his stock options and executive compensation. He later agreed to return $600 million in various payback agreements, including one with the SEC. But McGuire retained about $800 million in options.”
The investigative author, Goldberg, says that he “has a strong opinion, that these are not ethics appropriate when the country has been stunned by economic chaos that is without precedent in its history.”
“I sincerely doubt and allege that the 40 million members of AARP are aware of how they are being misled and politically manipulated by such statements as reported by John Hishta of AARP,” Goldberg concluded.
Goldberg’s explosive book on the corruption of our health care system and his cautionary tale about the dangers of Medical Tourism, “The American Medical Money Machine: The Destruction of Healthcare in America and The Rise of Medical Tourism,” is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle.
“Goldberg is an independent and is not asserting the information contained herein is intended to endorse or indict any given candidate” said Henderson. Henderson further opined that “an informed electorate should have solid information on which to base its decisions.”
