AARP Now Says The Medicare Drug Bill Needs Changes

When AARP endorsed the bill last year, it infuriated many Congressional Democrats and some of its own members, who asserted that the legislation would privatize Medicare. At least 45,000 members resigned in anger, Mr. Novelli said.

Mr. Novelli said he had no regrets about the endorsement. But he added that while "we had intended to keep after drug costs all along, the public clamor reinforces that."

Representative Pete Stark of California, a Democratic spokesman on health policy, said leaders of AARP were busily making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week "in an attempt to rehabilitate themselves as advocates for America's seniors." He urged his colleagues to reject such overtures. "AARP — what does it stand for?" Mr. Stark said in a letter to House Democrats. "Always Advocating for the Republican Party."