Ads Seek To Sway Opinions On Health Care
5013485This post was written by Prerana Swami.
With Congress set to debate an overhaul of health care system, groups such as Moveon.org and Conservatives for Patients' Rights are releasing advertisements across the country encouraging Americans to take a stance on the issue.
Moveon.org Political Action released a new radio spot today that focuses on the importance of public health insurance as an alternative to privatized insurance. Using PacMan sounds to signal "game over" for the current health care system, the advertisement takes the MoveOn message to key senators' home states.
"President Obama and seventy percent of voters support health care reform that includes a public health insurance option to contain costs, increase competition, and guarantee coverage" the advertisement claims.
In the spot, an announcer asks listeners to call on their senators to suggest reform that includes publicly-provided insurance.
NBC, meanwhile, is set to air a 30-minute infomercial on Sunday, after "Meet The Press," that is funded by Conservatives for Patients' Rights. The infomercial, which opposes a public insurance plan, has ruffled the feathers of many left-leaning groups.
Two such groups, Democracy for America and the Service Employees International Union, have called on supporters to sign a letter to NBC demanding it not air the infomercial.
The ad "will be false, deceitful, and a distortion," an SEIU attorney wrote in the letter. Were the infomercial to contain fabrications, CPR faces a fine from the Federal Communications Commission, Politico notes.
In response, CPR spokesman Keith Appell said that such complaints are to be expected.
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With Congress set to debate an overhaul of health care system, groups such as Moveon.org and Conservatives for Patients' Rights are releasing advertisements across the country encouraging Americans to take a stance on the issue.
Moveon.org Political Action released a new radio spot today that focuses on the importance of public health insurance as an alternative to privatized insurance. Using PacMan sounds to signal "game over" for the current health care system, the advertisement takes the MoveOn message to key senators' home states.
"President Obama and seventy percent of voters support health care reform that includes a public health insurance option to contain costs, increase competition, and guarantee coverage" the advertisement claims.
In the spot, an announcer asks listeners to call on their senators to suggest reform that includes publicly-provided insurance.
NBC, meanwhile, is set to air a 30-minute infomercial on Sunday, after "Meet The Press," that is funded by Conservatives for Patients' Rights. The infomercial, which opposes a public insurance plan, has ruffled the feathers of many left-leaning groups.
Two such groups, Democracy for America and the Service Employees International Union, have called on supporters to sign a letter to NBC demanding it not air the infomercial.
The ad "will be false, deceitful, and a distortion," an SEIU attorney wrote in the letter. Were the infomercial to contain fabrications, CPR faces a fine from the Federal Communications Commission, Politico notes.
In response, CPR spokesman Keith Appell said that such complaints are to be expected.
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Obama Mobilizes Grassroots Support For Health Care Reform
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Obama on Thursday spoke on a conference call with his grassroots supporters, telling them he needs their help to pass health care reform legislation this year -- otherwise, he said, it will not get done.
"If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," the president said, calling in from Air Force One. "We're going to need to mobilize all of you."
As both conservative and liberal groups push their messages either for or against health care reforms, Mr. Obama's own group called Organizing for America is preparing to kick off a national campaign to win nationwide support for his health care agenda.
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GOP Health Care Plan Aims For Universal Health Care In The Private Market
5013485Republicans in the House and the Senate on Wednesday introduced comprehensive health care legislation. In doing so they showed that as the party continues to redefine itself, it is choosing to embrace some of the principles and rhetoric that have proven successful for Democratic party.
The Patients' Choice Act, introduced today by Senators Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), adopts many of the same goals Democrats are pursuing as they continue to draw up their own health care reform bill.
The Republican plan, however, promotes very different policies.
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The Patients' Choice Act, introduced today by Senators Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), adopts many of the same goals Democrats are pursuing as they continue to draw up their own health care reform bill.
The Republican plan, however, promotes very different policies.
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Grassroots Groups Step Up Health Care Push
5013485While members of the Senate Finance Committee met behind closed doors today to privately discuss health care reform, their liberal constituents were busy engaging in a very public discussion about giving consumers the option to choose a government-run health care plan.
Grassroots advocacy groups in recent days have launched public campaigns advocating for a health care reform bill that would give consumers the choice of signing up for a government-run plan, otherwise known as a "public option." Groups like MoveOn.org and Health Care for America Now are mobilizing their members and running television ads in states represented by congressmen playing a critical role in the health care reform debate.
Based on the progress of the debate, the public option proponents say Congress is listening. More and more senators have said they are open to the idea of a public option, and a new plan for health care reform that surfaced this week shows the House of Representatives is considering a public option as well.
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Grassroots advocacy groups in recent days have launched public campaigns advocating for a health care reform bill that would give consumers the choice of signing up for a government-run plan, otherwise known as a "public option." Groups like MoveOn.org and Health Care for America Now are mobilizing their members and running television ads in states represented by congressmen playing a critical role in the health care reform debate.
Based on the progress of the debate, the public option proponents say Congress is listening. More and more senators have said they are open to the idea of a public option, and a new plan for health care reform that surfaced this week shows the House of Representatives is considering a public option as well.
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Obama, House Leaders Promise Health Care Bill By August
(CBS)
"Our legislation will be on the floor by the end of July, I am quite certain," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said outside the White House.
Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden had just finished meeting in the Oval Office with congressional Democratic leaders heading up health care reform, including Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Charlie Rangel, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Henry Waxman, and House Education and Labor Committee Chair Rep. George Miller.
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Obama Pressures Health Care Industry To Follow Through
(AP)
There is nothing, however, to hold the industry to its promise--a fact not lost on the White House.
So today, President Obama sent a letter (click here to view the letter) to the industry groups who committed to reducing the growth of costs, putting some personal pressure on the organizations to follow through on their word. The letter asks the organizations to update the administration by early June on the progress they have made toward fulfilling their commitment.
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Obama Lauds Companies For Pushing Healthy Living
(AP)
The president singled out companies that have engaged in created incentives "so that employees see concrete benefits as a consequence of them stopping smoking or losing weight or getting exercise."
Among the companies mentioned by the president for good practices were Safeway, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and REI. (The president is pictured above speaking with Safeway President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Burd.)
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Sebelius Relishes "Breakthrough Moment"
(CBS)
It was a "breakthrough moment," Sebelius told CBS' The Early Show, noting that in the 1990s, most of these people would not have dared discuss health care reform.
Now, Sebelius says, these leaders want to "be part of the solution," adding that they have the "tools" to help start slashing the crushing costs of health care.
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White House Suggests It Has To Improve Health Care Before It Overhauls It
(CBS)
The president did not elaborate on the connection between these two elements, which left Hotsheet wondering about the thinking behind it. There is a big difference, after all, between improving the current system and overhauling it altogether.
Asked about the connection in an email, Linda Douglass, the Communications Director at Office of Health Reform, wrote that "lowering the rising cost of health care is one of the central goals of health reform."
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Doctors' Group Backs Baucus' Health Care Strategy
(AP)
"This is probably one of the two or three 800 pound gorillas" in the room, Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters Monday.
The senator, whose committee holds jurisdiction over health care legislation, has irked some on the left for not wholly embracing a government-managed plan. He said the proposal will be addressed in a roundtable discussion with more than a dozen people tomorrow.
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Michigan Hosts First Regional Health Care Forum
(CBS)
In a nod toward regional concerns, health care administrators from General Motors and Ford Motor Company argued at the forum that rising costs of health care had prevented the faltering companies from keeping up with foreign competitors.
The president did not attend, but the event kicked off with a recorded welcome from Mr. Obama, who stressed that ideas for reform should not only come from Washington. The event did have some Washington flavor, however. Granholm and Doyle were joined by Democratic congressmen John Dingell and John Conyers, Jr. and White House Domestic Policy Director Melody Barnes.
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White House Announces Regional Health Care Forums
(CBS)
Expanding coverage to the uninsured is one of the administration's top priorities. President Obama made it clear at yesterday's event – a gathering that brought together lawmakers, health care professionals, insurers, and special interest groups – that he hopes to pass major health care legislation this year.
"The time for reform is now and these regional forums are some of the key first steps toward breaking the stalemate we have been stuck in for far too long," Mr. Obama said in a statement announcing the regional summits. "The forums will bring together diverse groups of people all over the country who have a stake in reforming our health care system and ask them to put forward their best ideas about how we bring down costs and expand coverage for American families."
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President Obama's Health Care Forum
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
"That's right. I'm talking to you liberal bleeding hearts out there," he told his forum on health reform. "Don't think that we can solve this problem without tackling costs. And that may make some in the progressive community uncomfortable, but it's got to be dealt with."
Without question, he supports expanding health care coverage to the 46-million Americans who lack it. He calls it a "moral imperative." But he warned that the upfront costs of such a program could doom it to failure.
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Obama: Health Care Reform Is A Moral – And Fiscal – Imperative
(CBS)
Mr. Obama, who is calling for comprehensive reform by the end of the year, said that "health care reform is no longer just a moral imperative, it's a fiscal imperative."
"If we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy and get our federal budget under control, then we have to address the crushing cost of health care this year, in this administration," the president said. "Making investments in reform now, investments that will dramatically lower costs, won't add to our budget deficits in the long term -- rather, it is one of the best ways -- in fact maybe the only way -- to reduce those long-term costs."
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Health Care Forum Attendees
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Most of the members of Congress attending are Democrats, but there will be Republicans there as well -- including members of the party leadership in both houses and Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who was briefly President Obama's choice for Commerce Secretary before he withdrew his nomination.
Eight "everyday Americans" also will be on hand. One of them, 24-year old firefighter Travis Ulerick from Dublin, Ind., will introduce the president before his opening remarks.
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