Chairman Jim Martin and 60 Plus Spokesman Pat Boone: “In the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in June, we’re taking the case for the future of America’s healthcare to a higher court — the ‘People’s Court.'”

Bus Tour Expands to a Dozen States from inaugural three-state tour in June

Boone, a native Floridian, will join the tour from time to time

(Alexandria, Virginia) – After having completed a three-state bus tour in June that rallied thousands of seniors and their families to the healthcare debate, the 60 Plus Association, the leading conservative seniors organization with over 7.2 million supporters, today announced that it is launching the second leg of its ‘Healthcare Freedom’ bus tour.  This second leg will be greatly expanded and include stops in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, with other states in the mix.

60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin said this second excursion through the South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest is critical in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in June that deemed President Obama’s ‘Affordable Care Act,’ Constitutional.  “Obamacare is a lot of things,” said Martin, “but affordable is not one of them.  We all agree that America needs healthcare reform, but this law is dismantling the good things about America’s healthcare system, while bankrupting our nation and saddling Americans with skyrocketing healthcare costs and fewer medical options.  This is our last chance to get healthcare reform right, which is why we’re getting back on the bus and holding dozens of town halls with real Americans in need of real solutions.

“Most of all, I share the sincere concern of tens of millions of America’s seniors that Obamacare raids the Medicare Trust Fund by $716 billion dollars.  When Nancy Pelosi admitted she and President Obama ‘cut half a trillion dollars from Medicare’ to pay for Obamacare, she was only off by $200 billion.  Medicare is already teetering on the brink of insolvency, and will be all but gone in about a decade.  Slashing its funding by over $700 billion puts millions of seniors’ care at risk, and if left as is, will end Medicare as we know it.”

As in the inaugural Healthcare Freedom bus tour, legendary entertainer and 60 Plus National Spokesman Pat Boone will be on hand for events in Florida, which happens to be his native state.  Boone, now 78, was born in Jacksonville and currently resides in Beverly Hills with his wife of 57 years Shirley.  The bus tour will continue to recruit AARP members who are upset with the organization’s support of the healthcare law which cuts Medicare, cripples Medicare Advantage, and remains unpopular with seniors.

“We consider the AARP the 60th vote to pass Obamacare,” said Martin, referring to the 60 votes in the U.S. Senate required for passage.  “AARP worked hand-in-hand with the White House and DNC to give political cover to Democrat senators by parroting the party line that this law would be good for seniors, even though their own members registered their disapproval of the bill by a margin of 14 to 1.  And no, that’s not a typo — 14 out of every 15 AARP members who made their voice heard on the issue said ‘NO’ to Obamacare.  If that’s not a betrayal of seniors then I don’t know what is.”

The bus tour kicks off in ­­­­Tampa August 31 and is currently scheduled to conclude October 5th in Minnesota.

“A majority of seniors are still vehemently opposed to this ‘bad medicine.’  It’s clear AARP did a disservice to its members two years ago and continues to do a disservice to them today by continuing to promote this Medicare-killing legislation. Now faced with a backlash, AARP announced it is on a ‘listening tour.’ They should have listened two years ago.”

60 Plus was founded by Martin 20 years ago and currently boasts 7.2 million supporters nationwide, an increase of over a million since 2010.  Unlike the AARP, which has received hundreds of millions of tax dollars, 60 Plus accepts only voluntary donations from over a quarter-million donors.

The 60 Plus bus has a replica of its own AARP bumper sticker reproduced in giant letters on the outside of the bus, ‘AARP: Association Against Retired Persons.’

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