EDMONDS — Murray Levin, an activist in the local AARP chapter, had barely walked in the door of the South County Senior Center Tuesday when people began giving him an earful.
"The first thing one of the women at the desk said to me was, ‘Oh, I’m not going to renew my AARP membership any more, ’ " Levin said, one measure of the anger he is hearing over the group’s endorsement of the Medicare bill just approved by Congress and the legislation itself.
"You have to be a senior to understand how big this thing is," Levin said. "It’s big."
"We feel betrayed, and I mean really betrayed. We’re furious."
Reaction from seniors in Snohomish County seemed to be a mixture of frustration over trying to understand what is included in the nearly 700-page Medicare bill and fury over its changes.
"I have been so stressed out over this," said Troy Hunter, a board member of the Edmonds AARP chapter.
"I do believe that seniors will get organized once they know what’s in the bill," Hunter said. "We’re talking about over 40 million seniors. There will definitely be a backlash against this."
The Snohomish County Council on Aging approved a resolution opposing the bill, believed to be the first time in its history that the group has taken a formal stand on federal legislation.
"It’s a horrible bill," said Connie Connole, who leads the group.
Connole said she followed debate over the bill closely even though "I never was a C-Span watcher."
Seniors may not pay much attention to some issues, she said, but "they won’t forget this."
In Marysville, AARP activist Jim Cummins said if seniors are under financial stress, they’ll have to wait three years for the prescription benefits to kick in.
Although the bill includes provisions for an estimated 15 percent discount beginning next year, for "the poor people only getting $500 a month and taking expensive drugs, that doesn’t help," Cummins said.
"This is a payoff to the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry, which has spent millions of dollars in advertising and lobbying," he said.
Jason Erskin, a spokesman for AARP Washington, acknowledged the national seniors advocacy group has received a flood of angry calls.
"Much of that is rooted in misperceptions about what is in the bill," Erskin said. Since it’s nearly 700 pages long, "that’s not hard to understand."
Congress first started talking about a prescription drug benefit 29 years ago, Erskin said. He called the Medicare bill a middle-of-the-road compromise that brings about change for seniors.
"We’re disappointed that some opponents have chosen to attack AARP motives rather than (focus on) the merits of the bill," Erskin said.
The Medicare bill has been all the talk with members of the Mountlake Terrace Seniors Group, said Virginia Lincoln, the organization’s director.
"Most of us are on limited monthly incomes, Social Security and what small pension might be in addition," Lincoln said. "Of course we want some help with medications, but at the cost that this bill presents to us, yes, I’m upset."
Levin, a 12-year AARP volunteer, called the legislation "a rip-off."
"The biggest thing for seniors is health care," he said. "Everybody is on a fixed income.
"They’re running scared," Levin said of seniors’ reaction to the legislation. "A lot of them don’t understand what’s going on, but they will — very soon."
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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