AARP targets six more GOP senators with seven-figure ad buy

AARP is ramping up pressure on senators to vote against provisions in the House-passed ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill that the influential lobbying group says would hurt older adults. 

It’s launching another seven-figure television ad buy that will run as long as the Senate healthcare reform debate lasts. It’s targeting six more GOP senators than a previous ad buy in May.

The new senators include Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst (Iowa), Rob Portman (Ohio), Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker (Tenn.), and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.).

{mosads}It also includes targets of the May ad buy: Republican Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska), and Dean Heller (Nev.). 

AARP, which has nearly 38 million members, came out strong in opposition to the House-passed American Health Care Act. It dubbed a provision allowing insurers to charge older adults as much as five times more than younger people an “age tax.” ObamaCare restricts this ratio, known as an age rating, to 3-to-1.

Additionally, AARP is concerned about aspects of the bill that it believes “weaken Medicare, undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and make changes to Medicaid that would put some of our most vulnerable citizens at risk,” according to Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. 

The Senate is crafting a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but it has slim margin for error, as Republicans control 52 of the chamber’s seats. The legislation will only need a simple majority to pass the Senate under the fast-track budget maneuver the GOP is using to bypass a Democratic filibuster.