As Congress heads into its August recess, health care advertising will rule the airwaves. So far this year, $65 million has been spent on health-care related advertising. Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Advertising Group estimates that combined spending on radio, print and online advertising may total $8 million per week during the month of August.
So who is sponsoring these ads? This is how the numbers break down:
According to Tracey, of the ads aired so far, $17.3 million has been spent in favor of Congress’ reform plan and $8 million has been spent opposing it. Industry spending totals $22.5 million and despite being pro-reform, these ads don’t take sides. Specialized health interest groups, such as diabetes and autism organizations, are spending another $3.5 million.
Below is a list of some of the major groups slotted to appear on television over the August recess:
The Republican National Committee
The RNC ad, “Grand Experiment,” features images of children accompanied by warnings of President Obama’s “risky experiment.”
The RNC ads started running July 20 and target certain districts in Arkansas, Nevada, and North Dakota.
Conservatives for Patient’s Rights
CPR emerged as a strong opponent of President Obama’s health care plans in March, when it launched a $20 million ad campaign to promote free market health care alternatives. The group will continue to air ads on Fox News, CNN, and over the radio. The most recent ad, Squeeze, focuses on costs of health care reform.
Club for Growth
The conservative anti-tax group launched a $1.2 million ad campaign Thursday. The Club is airing television ads highlighting the dangers of government-run healthcare in Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas, and North Dakota aimed at Senators Harry Reid, Michael Bennet, Mark Udall, Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Byron Dorgan, and Kent Conrad as well as Representatives Marion Berry, Vic Snyder, Mike Ross, Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, John Salazar, Betsy Markey, Ed Perlmutter, and Earl Pomeroy.
The Club’s ad campaign will run through the August recess and may be expanded to other states and districts as the health care debate continues, according to a recent press release.
Family Research Council
The Family Research Council’s ad is similar to the 1994 “Harry and Louise” ads, but targets abortion measures in the health care proposals.
The Democratic National Committee
“The right wing extremist Republican base is back,” warns the DNC ad, “Enough of the Mob.” The ad shows clips of town hall health care protesters. The Republican goal? According to the DNC, “to destroy President Obama.”
Americans United For Change
In an ad called “GOP Rx: Wanna Be Healthy? Just Be Wealthy,” Americans United For Change targets the salaries of insurance executives:
Health Care for Americans Now!
Health Care for Americans Now is running a $40 million ad campaign with help from MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, and Acorn. This ad targets House Minority Whip, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.
America’s Health Insurance Plans
“Illness” is the title of an AHIP ad that supports health care reform with a bipartisan solution.
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August 7th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Obama’s gonna kill Grandma?
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/obama-wants-to-kill-your-grandma/
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August 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Part 1.
Problems :
1. No systematic, expansive Prevention & Wellness Program.
According to the scoring of CBO on the prevention & wellness program, all fitness centers around the world should close down immediately and all media have to end
reporting health tips about prevention. Rather, all of the excellent health systems seem to have one feature in common, a expansive, systematic preventative program
requiring immense investments.
I think a prevention system works as a ‘levee’ built against flood by the government, similarly, it also needs non-profit investments from the government ‘on a large scale’.
This might offer us one clue of why all of the free states have public insurance policy in place.
Surprisingly enough, the system today is designed around treating patients once they become sick. As far as I’m concerned, the congress affected by the special interests
has turned down the budget request for prevention program in Medicare & Medicaid, which are the most expensive parts of the health program. Let’s imagine the astronomical
costs and invaluable lives following the levee breach.
2. A pay for each service / volume compensation, & No E-Medical Record.
As much as 30 percent of all health-care spending in the U.S. -some $700 billion a year- may be wasted on tests and treatments that do not improve the health of the
recipients, and this 700 billion dollars a year can cover a lot of uninsured people, in return, it could lessen the tragic, prohibitive ER cares.
Medical errors ( No e-Medical Record ) & lawsuits, more profits motive, and indirect payments from employers etc would account for it.
Supposedly, ‘a pay for each service / volume’ compensation seems to leave the medical institutes unequipped with the essential IT system. To understand its importance, If
we imagine the cost difference between the previous and current system in financial institutes, the magnitude of cost-savings and the mess in health care system can
be easily explained.
3. Premium Inflation.
This last spring, due to the demand decrease, the peak fuel price came down below $40 per barrel, though, the
‘Similar’ insurance premiums keep on rising, accordingly the inaction could bankrupt family, business, and
government ‘BEYOND this recession’ , as all across the spectrum agree.
Basically, as demand diminish, the price tends to reflect it, nonetheless, the insurers that formed a cartel through
consolidation have replenished the loss by exercising inhumane malpractices involving denying, capping, rapid
premium increase and the like. And this runaway premium ended up in the collapse of middle
class ranging ‘ from finance to mental health’ , alongside the peak fuel price and fast-growing mortgage rate, as all of
us know. Thereby they could be cited as an objective for anti-trust or anti-corruption. If the public plan sets the same rate of the insurers, it will be another headache.
Ironically, the Deficit-sensitive groups have a distinctive common ground, they all have a Deficit-driven background out of
question. Therefore, I’d say they have nothing to say about deficit unless they are free from the sponsors.
And the spoiled menu, ‘Takeover and Rationing Cliche’ is still marching for bankruptcy, as opposed to its motto.
4. ‘Work or Break’ health system with no brake or safety system.
Just like marriage, economy also undergoes up and down, however, economic downturn is not reflected in the employment-based system.
The rising mental stress or illness & ‘keep eating habit’ , which are the epicenter of a number of different diseases,might be traced
to this insecure system and exorbitant premiums.
Part 2.
The Public Plan:
1. Thankfully, the health care reform bill currently before Congress makes several key investments including more primary care doctors in preventive care, and those pieces
of the public plan must be maintained .
2. The pay for ‘Outcome’ pack is most likely to expedite the introduction of Health Care IT SYSTEM, and it will help doctors focus on their patients.
3. The ‘innovative’ idea of a ‘pay for value / outcome’ pack will allow for Quality and affordability
. If you are a physician, and your pay is dependant upon your patient’s outcome, you will most likely strive to
prescribe the best medicine earlier in the process, let alone skipping the wasteful, unnecessary risk-carrying
procedures.
4. The synergy effect of the combined Health Care IT & a pay for ‘outcome’ system may allow the clinicians to
‘correctly’ diagnose and effectively treat a patient earlier in the process so that it can measurably decrease the
crushing lawsuits and deter the excuse for unnecessary cares to make fortunes.
5. The creative idea of ‘a pay for outcome’ will more likely prompt team approach and decision, as at Myo clinic.
Under the ‘pay for outcome’ pack, for good reason, best practices as ‘recommendations’ would simply help them
make a better decision, and the government won’t still have to meddle in the final, actual decision-making
process as a non-expert.
6. This New ‘Payment Reform’ could accelerate the progress in medical science, in return, it will save more cash.
And this idea will be able to bring ‘competition’ to the private market, as a result, it can contribute to mitigating premium inflation.
7. Supporters of the agreement say it could save the Medicare System more than $100 billion a year and ‘improve’
care, that means more than $1trillian over next decade, and virtually needs no other resources including tax on the
wealthiest. Supposedly even the ‘conservative’ number of such savings might be able to meet the objective of revenue-neutral.
(Please visit http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=820455&catid=391 for detailed infos).
8. Through clinic’s network, users of its health-care services can keep up with their health information and information for family members, and receive health guidance and
recommendations from clinic that is optimized for each person.
The system also allows patients to upload information from home-health devices such as blood glucose monitors and digital scales. Patients can authorize whether they
want to share their health information with doctors or other caregivers, and those caregivers can provide health-care and general wellness recommendations based on the
information patients provide.
9. In case the health care reform provides the general public with peace of mind, the rising mental stress, obesity caused by the insecure system and
exorbitant premiums may bend the curve surprisingly.
10. Clearly, the positive impacts involving massive job creation, promising stem cell research, several times more economic effects of ‘from bed to work’ lie ahead, these will
lead to economic recovery.
Part 3.
Conclusion ;
1. The last thing to expect is rallying for premium inflation
2. Over time, supposedly, the public plan will concentrate more on basic, primary cares, and the private insurers will provide their clients with differentiated services.
3. With the Prevention & Wellness Program as a stable levee in place, the promising pay for value/ outcome reimbursement reform based on IT system could clear the way for revenue-neutral. Some say the installation of IT network will take time, but once this new outcome-based payment system is implemented, the hospitals reluctant to adopt it will most likely rush to introduce it.
4. The final hurdle looks like a scoring issue surrounding the savings on Prevention & Wellness Program, but I’d like to say
health clubs and media reports on prevention tips must be maintained.
Thank You !
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