New Television Ad Links Health Reform To Economic Recovery

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health;  IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 12 Jan 2009 - 0:00 PST

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A coalition of medical, insurance, consumer and labor groups on Thursday launched a television advertising campaign that urges Congress to overhaul the U.S. health care system to stimulate the economy, CQ HealthBeat reports. The multi-million dollar ad campaign is funded by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Medical Association, Families USA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Regence BlueCross BlueShield and the Service Employees International Union.

The ad shows nearly black-and-white images of an empty factory, followed by video in color of a busy factory. A voice in the ad says, "Quality, affordable health care -- it's not just something we should do for America's families, it's something we must do for America's economy" (Kim, CQ HealthBeat, 1/8). According to CongressDaily, the ad also emphasizes the importance of universal coverage, preventive health and healthy living to overall efforts to improve the economy (CongressDaily, 1/9). According to AMA, the ad will air on national cable channels, including the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN, as well as network television stations during Saturday morning programming and will run through Feb. 5 (CQ HealthBeat, 1/8).

The ad is available online.

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