60,000 drop their AARP membership over health care position

As the debate on government-sponsored health care was elevated throughout the summer, many AARP members expressed concern with the organization's general support of Democratic approaches. Now 60,000 members have defected over the issue.

AARP has lost 60,000 members due to the position the organization has taken on government-sponsored health care. The membership loss was recorded since July 1, according to an AARP spokesperson. "The membership loss suggests dissatisfaction on the part of AARP members at a time when many senior citizens are concerned about proposed cuts to Medicare providers to help pay for making health care available for all. But spokesman Drew Nannis said it wasn't unusual for the powerful, 40 million-strong senior citizens' lobby to shed members in droves when it's advocating on a controversial issue," The Associated Press reported. AARP has been very active in backing a health care overhaul, running supportive advertisements nationally. However, the organization has not endorsed a specific plan and has said that it will not support any plan that includes cuts in Medicare benefits. "We take stands on issues that are contentious, it's part of what we do," Nannis told AP. "And because we have so many members we'll always have a small percentage that disagree with us so strongly they feel they need to cancel membership." According to Nannis, the organization gained 400,000 new members during the same period and that 1.5 million members had renewed. On average, AARP loses 300,000 members a month.