Advertisements Highlight Doctors, Patients Wrangling Over Reform Proposals
Doctors and patients are among the stakeholders sounding off in the latest round of health care reform proposal advertisements aimed at changing minds of Americans and their Representatives in Congress, The New York Times reports.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars on both sides of the debate have been spent thus far, with millions more planned, to try to sway opinions as Congress readies to return from a week-long recess. "In some ways, the dueling advertisements are mirror images of each other. For instance, one says that you don't want the government between you and your doctor, another that you don't want the insurance company between you and your doctor," The New York Times reports.
Groups advocating reform in America include:
- Business Forward - a group representing big businesses such as AT&T, Microsoft and I.B.M. urging business leaders to work with Obama on reform
- Health Care for America Now, which says it has recently spent $200,000 on TV ads and has raised $15 million.
Critics include:
- Americans for Prosperity Foundation which says it has 22,000 donors and recently spent $800,000 on TV ads.
- Conservatives for Patients' Rights - which is expected to spent $1.2 million on a TV campaign against a government-run system after spending $2.5 million on similar ads earlier this year (Pear, 5/27).