RNC "Reforma" Ad Makes Up Facts As Well As Words

Luntz And Lobbyists, Playing In The Surf

Narrator and On-Screen Text: "The life you want to live.  The peace of mind you deserve.  Reforma.  The Obama-Pelosi prescription for building a government takeover of health care.  Anxiety and stress disappear.  Reforma.  Recommended by more lobbyists than any other health care reform.  No worries.  No concerns.  Consult your congressman about Reforma before the August recess.  Reforma." [BarackObamaExperiment.com, accessed 7/23/09] 

Anti-Reform Lobbying Expenses Have Exceeded $10 Million

Insurance Industry Has Spent At Least $10.1 Million On Anti-Reform Lobbying.  The Washington Post reported: "Drugmakers, hospitals and insurers continued to pour millions of dollars into lobbying during the second quarter of this year, hoping to limit the damage to their bottom line as lawmakers and the Obama administration wrangle over landmark health-care legislation...Many health companies and associations increased their first-quarter lobbying expenditures, sometimes dramatically.

• The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association upped its lobbying expenditures by a full million, to 2.8 million dollars in the second quarter;
• GlaxoSmithKline's spending jumped from $1.8 million to $2.3 million;
• Novartis grew from $1.4 million to $1.8 million; and
• Metlife Group reported $1.7 million, up nearly 50 percent.
• Allstate, which spent less than $900,000 on lobbying through March, boosted its spending to more than $1.5 million from April to June." [Washington Post, 7/21/09]

"Government Takeover" a la Frank Luntz

Luntz Memo, Rule 5: "You'll notice we recommend the phrase "government takeover" rather than "government run" or "government controlled."  It's because too many politician [sic] say "we don't want a government run healthcare system like Canada or Great Britain" without explaining the consequences.  There is a better approach. 'In countries with government run healthcare, politicians make YOUR healthcare decisions. THEY decide if you'll get the procedure you need, or if you are disqualified because the treatment is too expensive or because you are too old.  We can't have that in America.'" [The Language of Healthcare 2009, by Frank Luntz, accessed 5/21/09, emphasis original]

Bureaucratic Fear Mongering, Set To Soothing Soundtrack

Narrator and On-Screen Text: "The side effects include bureaucratic waste and delay.  Not recommended if you like your own doctor, want to keep your doctor, or want to avoid the government prescribing your medical treatments." [BarackObamaExperiment.com, accessed 7/23/09]

The Legislation Ensures You Can Keep Your Current Coverage And Doctor.

House Bill Allows For Continuation Of Current Coverage.  According to PolitiFact.com: "The House bill allows for existing policies to be grandfathered in, so that people who currently have individual health insurance policies will not lose coverage." [PolitiFact.com, 7/22/09]

Bureaucratic Waste? The Vast Insurance Company Bureaucracies Hurt Americans.

Insurance Companies Hire Agencies To "Do Computerized Searches" Of A Person's Health Record.  According to the Miami Herald, "to make sure that applicants are not lying, insurers hire a data-gathering service... [to] do computerized searches of a person's drug use, gleaned from pharmacy benefits managers and other databases." [Miami Herald, 3/28/09]

• Insurers Use The Data To Deny Coverage And To Charge Higher Premiums. According to a Business Week report, "Two-thirds of all health insurers are using prescription data-not only to deny coverage to individuals and families but also to charge some customers higher premiums or exclude certain medical conditions from policies, according to agents and others in the industry. Some carriers are also using the data to charge small employers higher group rates." [Business Week, 7/23/08]

Insurance Applicants Rejected Based On Height And Weight.  In an article offering advice on what to do when you lose your health care, the Washington Post reported: "'In the past four or five years, I've had people turned down just because of height and weight,' says Jerry Patt, an independent [health insurance] agent in Gaithersburg who has been in the business for more than 35 years. 'They could be having no medical problems whatsoever, but their build was not acceptable.'" [Washington Post, 6/22/08, emphasis added]

Heartfelt Recitation Does Not Change The Distortion

Narrator and On-Screen Text: "Not recommended for people who actually need medical care. [On screen text: Not recommended for people who may need actual medical care.]  The government can deny your health care based on patient age." [BarackObamaExperiment.com, accessed 7/23/09] 

The Private Health Insurance Industry Denies Coverage For Americans Every Day

Americans Face Denials For Coverage From Insurance Companies Every Day.  Americans are already facing the denial of treatments from their private insurance companies, according to the Wall Street Journal. As Diane Archer, director of the Health Care Project at Institute for America's Future recently argued in the New York Times: "As any doctor will tell you, when a private health insurance plan delays or denies a physician-recommended service, it is deciding who gets care and what kind of care people get." [Wall Street Journal, 9/25/08; New York Times, 5/8/09]

Common Diseases And Conditions Are Often Reasons For Coverage Denial.  The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported, "in Minnesota, the most common reasons for denial are obesity, mental health conditions, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But there are less well-known reasons insurers consider on a case-by-case basis: chemical dependency, allergies that require costly injectable drugs, a previous C-section, previous use of infertility medicine or something as simple as being pregnant." [Star Tribune, 1/10/09]

And Even If Coverage Is Offered, The Cost Of Premiums Is Cost Prohibitive To Many Americans

New America Foundation: Family Health Coverage Will Be Nearly $25,000 By 2016.  According to the New America Foundation, under the current system of health care delivery in the United States, the full cost of an employer-based health plan for a family will be $24,291 by 2016.  [New America Foundation, The Cost of Doing Nothing, November 2008]

Without Reform, Premiums Will Continue To Be Unaffordable For Many Americans.  According to a new study released by Families USA: "In 2008, the uninsured paid an average of 37 percent of the cost of care that they received out of their own pockets.  However, they cannot usually afford to pay the whole bill on their own, and a portion goes unpaid (this is called 'uncompensated care').  To cover the cost of this uncompensated care, health care providers charge higher rates when insured people receive care, and these increases are passed on to those who have insurance in the form of higher premiums, known as a 'hidden health tax.'  In 2008, for example, this 'hidden health tax; increased premiums for family health coverage by an average of $1,017, and, for single individuals, by $368." [Families USA, Coverage for America: We All Stand to Gain, accessed 7/22/09, parentheses original]

Americans Are Desperate For Reform

64% Of Americans Want "A Government Administered Health Insurance Plan."  According to a CBS News poll, 64% of Americans favor "the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan - something like the Medicare coverage...that would compete with private health insurance plans." [CBS News Poll, 7/9-12/09]

Nearly 70% Of Americans Want A Government Option.  A new poll released by Quinnipiac University revealed that 69% of Americans want a government-run health insurance option. [Quinnipiac.edu, 7/1/09]

Nearly 60% Of Americans See Government Involvement In Health Care As A Way To Curb High Costs.  According to a Washington Post/ABC poll: "58 percent said they see government reform as necessary to stall skyrocketing costs and expand coverage for the uninsured." [Washington Post, 6/24/09

Sing-Song-y Narration Cannot Disguise False Information

Narrator and On-Screen Text: "Cost to taxpayers may vary and is more than you can possibly imagine.  You should not support President Obama's Reforma if you're worried about the $1.6 trillion cost - or the $219 billion deficit.  Call your Congressman or Senator if you're concerned by any or all of these side effects." [BarackObamaExperiment.com, accessed 7/23/09]

CBO: House Bill Would Increase Revenue By $83 Billion And Result In A $65 Billion Net Increase In The Federal Deficit Over Ten Years.  In its letter to Chairman Rangel, the Congressional Budget Office wrote: "According to CBO's and JCT's assessment, enacting H.R. 3200 would result in a net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion over the 2010-2019 period.  That estimate reflects a projected 10-year cost of the bill's insurance coverage provisions of $1,042 billion, partly offset by net spending changes that CBO estimates would save $219 billion over the same period, and by revenue provisions that JCT estimates would increase federal revenues by about $583 billion over those 10 years.  By the end of the 10-year period, in 2019, the coverage provisions would add $202 billion to the federal deficit, CBO and JCT estimate.  That increase would be partially offset by net cost savings of $50 billion and additional revenues of $86 billion, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of an estimated $65 billion. It is important to note that the figures presented here do not represent a complete cost estimate for the coverage provisions of the legislation." [CBO.gov, 7/17/09; emphasis added]

House Bill Will Cost $1 Trillion Over Ten Years.  Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic wrote that the CBO scored the House bill with "net outlays of just over $1 trillion over ten years." [TNR.com, 7/14/09]

Democrats' Health Care Reform To Cost $611 Billion Over Ten Years. Reuters reported that the CBO scoring of the Democrats' "plan to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system has dropped to $611 billion over a decade." [Reuters, 7/2/09]

• Obama Has Set Aside $634 Billion For Health Care Over Ten Years. The Washington Post reported that President Obama set aside a "$634 billion reserve fund over the next decade." [Washington Post, 2/26/09]