I have been finding myself attempting to dispel rumors and outright lies being believed by the elderly in my life on health care reform. I think I finally succeeded in convincing them there weren’t going to be an “death panels” … which doesn’t matter now seeing as the provision which would have had Medicare pay for the voluntary counseling on how to set up a living will or other advance care directive looks to be ditched, but every last one of them still insists that Medicare is going to be cut and they won’t be able to get the things they need anymore.

Recently I sent them all a bunch of links to press releases from the AARP about how none of is this true, but if it isn’t in soundbite form, they either can’t be bothered to read it or they don’t seem to understand what they are reading. Most of them have now informed me the information at the links was just so much “gobbledlygook” and “mumbo jumbo” and contradicts what the oh-so-truthful talking heads on Fox have been saying. Yes, the elderly in my life don’t even believe the AARP is telling the truth. The mind does boggle on that one, because I can’t for the life of me see any way that the AARP would benefit from lying to seniors about this stuff, because the lie would be found out, and then the seniors would turn on them. But no … Fox News is far more trustworthy than the AARP (an organization they almost all belong to).

Anyway, today I found an AARP link with nice soundbite-sized facts on the health care reform. I thought I would pass it along, in case anyone else is having to deal with angry, misinformed, and frightened old people.