AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping older Americans
achieve lives of independence, dignity, and pur-
pose. The AARP, which was founded in 1958 by
Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, is the oldest and largest
organization of older Americans, with a mem-
bership of more than 33 million. The National
Retired Teachers Association (NTRA), which
was founded in 1947, is a division of AARP.
Membership in AARP is open to anyone age 50
or older, working or retired. More than one-
third of the association’s membership is in the
workforce. The AARP’s headquarters are in
Washington, D.C. By the early 2000s, AARP had
fulfilled its goal of having staffed offices in all 50
states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. AARP utilizes
an extensive network of local AARP chapters, its
National Community Service Programs and
NTRA members to involve members, volun-
teers, the media, community partners, and pol-
icy-makers in carrying out its objectives. The
organization is led by a 21-member board of
directors and has an administrative staff that
carries out the group’s day-to-day activities. The
organization is funded almost entirely by annual
membership dues.
The AARP has been an effective advocate
regarding issues involving older persons, in part
because of its large membership and its ability to
mobilize its members to lobby for its positions
before Congress and government agencies. The
organization has concentrated much of its LOB-
BYING effort on SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE,
and long-term care issues. The AARP has fought
zealously to protect the Social Security benefits
of retired citizens and has resisted efforts by
Congress to change the system itself. Its Advo-
cacy Center for Social Security develops policy
proposals and lobbies Congress.
The AARP Advocacy Center for Medicare
seeks to ensure the availability of affordable,
quality HEALTH CARE for older individuals and
persons with disabilities. In the early 2000s it
was working to develop ways of maintaining the
short-term solvency of the Hospital Insurance
Trust Fund and was preparing for the needs of
the baby boomers in the longer term. With the
dramatic growth in managed health care plans,
the AARP has sought to educate its members
about this new way of providing services and to
empower older people by telling them what
their rights are under this system.
The association also has been actively
involved in voter education. A major, nonparti-
san component of the association’s legislative
program is AARP/VOTE, a voter education pro-
gram that is charged with informing the public
about important public policy issues and the
positions of candidates for public office.
Through issue and candidate forums and voter
guides, AARP/VOTE works to promote issue-
centered campaigns and a more informed elec-
torate.
The organization also provides many bene-
fits to its members. The AARP licenses the use of
its name for selected services of chosen
providers. For example, it offers members a
choice of insurance plans. Because most of the
plans are neither age-rated nor medically under-
written, the association can make HEALTH
INSURANCE available to many of its members
who otherwise would be unable to obtain insur-
ance coverage because of pre-existing condi-
tions. The association receives an administrative
allowance or a royalty from the providers and
the income realized from these services is used
for the general purposes of the association and
its members.
The AARP also operates a nationwide volun-
teer network that helps older citizens. Programs
include information and support for grandpar-
ents who are raising their grandchildren, legal
hotlines, and INCOME TAX preparation. These
and other programs are funded, in part, by fed-
eral grants.
The association produces two national radio
network series and publishes a monthly maga-
zine, AARP The Magazine, a monthly newspa-
per, the AARP Bulletin and a quarterly
Spanish-language newspaper, Segunda Juventud.
As older adults have gained computer skills, the
organization’s Web site has become increasingly
popular.
Recent outreach programs launched by
AARP include a collaborative national effort to
help prepare people for independent living,
long-term care and end-of-life care as well as a
pilot program to promote physical activities for healthy aging.
FURTHER READINGS
American Association of Retired Persons. Available online at
(accessed May 29, 2003).
Morris, Charles R. 1996. The AARP: America’s Most Powerful
Lobby and the Clash of Generations. New York: Times
Books.
Van Atta, Dale. 1998. Trust Betrayed: Inside the AARP. 1998.
Chicago: Regnery.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Age Discrimination; Senior Citizens; Senior Citizens “How
to Avoid Being Defrauded” (Sidebar); Senior Citizens
“Scamming the Elderly” (In Focus).
