AARP

AARP has 50 million members and is unambiguous on protecting Social Security and Medicare from cuts, lowering prescription drug costs, opposing Medicaid cuts affecting long-term care, supporting Older Americans Act funding, and opposing age discrimination. Cornyn earns more AARP credit than Paxton does on rural-hospital legislation, Older Americans Act reauthorization, and the Improving Care Coordination for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries Act. He still loses on ACA repeal votes (AARP supported keeping the ACA enhanced premium tax credits), on opposing the IRA prescription-drug-price-negotiation framework AARP championed, and on the Medicaid block-grant framework AARP opposes for long-term care implications. Talarico's Medicare buy-in at any age, Social Security expansion, Older Americans Act expansion, eldercare workforce development, rural-hospital protection, PBM regulation, and ban on medical debt is essentially the AARP wishlist. He drops one point only because Medicare buy-in could pressure Medicare's existing risk pool in ways AARP has been cautious about.