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. Paxton opposed the ACA, sued to block the CMS nursing-home minimum staffing rule (which would have improved care quality, AARP's actual position), has no published Senate plank on seniors, and supported a budget framework cutting Medicaid. The CMS Medicaid funding rule he killed in 2025 was AARP-aligned. Talarico's Medicare buy-in at any age, Social Security expansion, Older Americans Act expansion, eldercare workforce development, rural-hospital protection, PBM regulation, ban on medical debt on credit reports, and opposition to VA privatization 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.