Florida is one of 10 states where TV commercials are battling over whether a publicly-sponsored health plan should be part of whatever reform bill emerges from Washington.
On June 19, Health Care for America Now – a coalition of groups that back the inclusion of a government-sponsored plan – began airing a commercial called "What If?" (See here on YouTube). It invites viewers to imagine a plan that doesn’t have to make billion-dollar profits for shareholders, doesn’t pay its CEO millions in bonuses and doesn't keep jacking up premiums every year.
It’s pitted against the anti-government-involvement ads by Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, which began airing April 27 and were described last month by Health News Florida. These feature Naples multimillionaire Rick Scott, who paid for them, accusing President Obama of proposing a single-payer health system like that of Britain or Canada and asserting that would lead to socialism, rationing, loss of patient choice, etc.
There’s something for everyone, of every political hue, to chew on. Trouble is, an independent group that rides herd on the accuracy of political ads says both contain discrepancies and distortions.
As FactCheck.org said in May, when Scott's first ad ran, it was a complete distortion of the Obama proposal. In fact, Obama has ruled out a single-payer plan. A second commercial called "Bulldozer," which said including a public plan would force 119 million privately insured Americans to lose their health insurance, was also grossly misleading, FactCheck reported.
Now FactCheck.org has issued a report criticizing the rebuttal ad, “What If?” It’s sponsored by HCAN, which FactCheck described as “a coalition that includes liberal and union groups.”
While the warm-and-fuzzy commercial on the idea of a public plan isn’t an out-and-out fabrication like the Scott commercials, FactCheck says the ads “lack context and could well mislead the public.”
Criticisms include:
--One question in the commercial --“What if we stripped away the $13-billion insurance company profits?" – sounds exciting, but the answer is that it wouldn't make much of a difference, FactCheck reports. The figure represents six-tenths of 1 percent of U.S. spending on health care.
--The HCAN ad features a graphic that shows a monthly premium bill rising to more than $600. But that's double the average monthly bill for a family with employer-sponsored coverage, FactCheck notes. (It’s worth noting here that Florida families with employer-sponsored plans tend to pay a larger share of their premiums than the national average.)
-- Another misleading claim, FactCheck says, is that health insurance CEOs receive $119 million in "bonuses," which is wrong. That figure represents total compensation, including salary.
Health News Florida asked HCAN for a response. The e-mail that came did not address the specific numbers and their accuracy, but offered a broader defense:
“The public health insurance plan is not a 'liberal' idea. The truth is that regardless of political affiliation, most people in America find themselves paying more and more for health care while their pay stagnates and they know that the high profits for health insurance companies are one major reason.”
Non-partisan polls show the public supports having a choice of a public health insurance plan by a clear margin, HCAN wrote.
”Furthermore, the insurance industry has a long history of abusing consumers, circumventing fair business practices and protecting profits.”
HCAN suggested that the public read its report on insurance-industry abuses.
