The American Medical Association Tuesday joins the long list of special-interest groups to drop big money into the coffers of media companies to promote its view on health-care-reform.
As the AMA was putting the finishing touches on its TV commercials, which start Tuesday night on CNN, Congress was in recess and it was unclear what would happen when the legislators returned to Washington. So the AMA produced four versions of its message and was deciding at the last minute which to air.
From the $13 million “Harry and Louise” campaign against the White House health-care plan sponsored by the Health Insurance Association of America, to pro-reform campaigns from groups including the American Association of Retired Persons and the NAACP, as much as $50 million could be spent in ads on the subject before Congress votes on the legislation, according to industry reports.
Although the AMA has been advertising its point of view in newsmagazines and Washington newspapers this year, the Chicago-based physicians group is turning to TV and radio for the first time. The goal is to garner support for its position of being for change-as long as it doesn’t change the relationship between doctor and patient, limit a person’s ability to choose his or her own health plan, or affect quality of care through “interference” by insurance companies. The AMA also supports an ultimate goal of universal coverage, though universal coverage is generally considered to be a dead issue in Congress this year. Spending for air time is estimated at about $400,000, according to Bob Blouin, vice president and management supervisor at the Chicago ad agency Jack Levy & Associates, which created the campaign.
Four versions of the commercial were filmed, all featuring AMA President Robert McAfee, a surgeon from Portland, Maine. McAfee does as well as most chief executives do when they get their turn to appear on camera delivering the corporate line. But aside from speaking to his physician constituency, McAfee is presenting the AMA’s view as representative of what many Americans want as well.
“Most of the active voices in the debate have been for very narrowly defined businesses,” Blouin said, referring to the “Harry and Louise” effort as well as advertising from groups including the National Restaurant Association. “The AMA positions itself as being a patient’s advocate.”
“We know what you want because you’ve told us,” McAfee tells viewers.
The AMA spots will tell citizens either that nothing will be done on health care this year and the AMA will continue to work for change; that a piece of legislation will come to a vote in Congress soon and citizens should make their feelings known to their representatives; or, if the AMA gets its way, that the House Bipartisan Health Reform Act will be voted on and citizens should support it.
Some of the spots include a toll-free number that is the central number for contacting a member of Congress.
But like all advertising that is political in nature rather than selling a product or service, these commercials and their counterparts from the other groups are not regulated by any of the bodies, including the Federal Trade Commission, that oversee truth and fairness in advertising. Most of the advocacy campaigns over the last year are similar to what citizens see in the months leading up to election time: generalities and opinions masquerading as facts.
It’s difficult to believe that $50 million in advertising spending couldn’t have been put to better use dealing with the system’s real problems.
